Director, Partnerships

From the listing

About the role

What you'll do

• Build and execute partnership strategies that generate partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, accelerate sales opportunities, and expand revenue across Toptal’s services, products, and new businesses.
• Develop joint business plans with priority partners, build executive and field-level relationships, establish shared goals, and lead regular business reviews focused on revenue, pipeline, adoption, and growth.
• Turn partnerships into actionable sales motions through joint solutions, account mapping, co-selling, marketplace opportunities, reseller programs, sales enablement, campaigns, and events.
• Drive certifications, specializations, partnership tiers, designations, marketplace listings, and other requirements that increase Toptal’s access, credibility, benefits, and commercial opportunity within each ecosystem.
• Identify and capture Marketing Development Funds (MDF), sponsorships, enablement funding, event support, sales incentives, and other partner-funded programs that can accelerate growth.
• Own partnerships from identification and business case through contracting, onboarding, launch, activation, growth, and ongoing performance management.
• Work closely with Sales, Services, Talent, Marketing, Legal, Finance, Product, and leadership to ensure partnership commitments are translated into clear owners, deliverables, and measurable outcomes.
• Establish and track KPIs across revenue, pipeline, certifications, tier progression, partner engagement, co-sell activity, and partner investment, while maintaining clear visibility into priorities, blockers, and next steps.
• Create the processes, tools, documentation, and operating cadence required to manage a growing partner portfolio efficiently without losing speed or accountability.
• Personally develop partner plans, presentations, applications, business cases, enablement materials, and other work required to move partnerships forward and convert strategy into results.
• In the first week, build context on Toptal’s partnership strategy, priority partners, current pipeline, and active initiatives; meet key stakeholders; and begin transitioning ownership of priority partner relationships, operating cadences, and near-term opportunities.
• In the first month, develop a clear view of the partner portfolio, take ownership of partnership priorities and cross-functional execution, and identify immediate opportunities to accelerate co-sell activity, partner-funded programs, certifications, and tier progression.

What they're looking for

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• 8+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, alliances, business development, professional services, sales, or related commercial roles, with demonstrated ownership of complex partner relationships.
• Proven experience developing and executing partnership strategies that have contributed to pipeline, revenue growth, co-sell activity, joint solutions, or market expansion.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships across both executive and field organizations and translate those relationships into actionable joint business plans.
• Experience navigating partner programs, including certifications, specializations, tiers, marketplaces, reseller or co-sell programs, MDF, and partner-funded initiatives.
• Strong commercial instincts and the ability to identify where a partnership can create meaningful value for both Toptal and the partner.
• Proven ability to operate at both the strategic and hands-on executional levels, including developing plans, presentations, business cases, partner applications, and GTM materials.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to drive execution across Sales, Services, Talent, Marketing, Legal, Finance, Product, and Operations without relying on direct authority.
• Excellent executive communication, negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience using CRM, pipeline management, analytics, and collaboration tools such as Salesforce, Google Workspace, Slack, and AI productivity tools.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and handle a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and a diverse array of contacts.

Nice to have

• Experience working with technology, platform, cloud, AI, software, marketplace, or professional services partners is strongly preferred.

Benefits, as listed