Senior Director, Partner Ecosystem - EMEA

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Director, Partner Ecosystem — in EMEA to build and lead Rafay's regional partner strategy across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role for a proven alliance leader who thrives at the intersection of technical platform sales, strategic co-sell motions, and ecosystem orchestration. This position reports to: VP, Global Partnerships.

You will be the face of Rafay to EMEA partners — owning the full partner lifecycle from recruitment and onboarding through enablement, pipeline generation, and joint revenue attainment. You will develop deep relationships with Global System Integrators (GSIs), Regional SIs, OEM hardware partners, hyperscalers, and ISVs, and will work hand-in-hand with the EMEA field sales team to convert partner pipeline into closed revenue. This role requires up to 40% travel to client sites, partner offices, and regional meetings.

Responsibilities

Partner Strategy & Ecosystem Development

• Define and execute Rafay's EMEA partner strategy, covering GSIs, regional SIs, OEM/hardware alliances (e.g. Dell, DDN, HPE), and ISV/technology alliances.
• Identify, recruit, and onboard net-new strategic partners aligned to Rafay's core ICP: neoclouds, sovereign AI operators, telecom/NCP accounts, and regulated enterprise verticals.
• Build partner segmentation and tiering frameworks that prioritize investment, effort, and co-sell resources by partner potential and strategic fit.
• Represent Rafay at EMEA industry events, partner QBRs, and executive forums; serve as a regional brand ambassador and thought leader in Kubernetes, AI infrastructure, and platform operations.

Go-to-Market Execution & Revenue Attainment

• Own the EMEA partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline targets; develop joint business plans with top partners and track progress against revenue goals.
• Drive co-sell motions with EMEA field account executives — coordinating partner introductions, joint account mapping, and co-presentation at C-level customer meetings.
• Manage EMEA marketplace and co-investment programs with hyperscaler partners (AWS, Azure, GCP), driving consumption, co-marketing funds alignment, and deal registration.
• Collaborate with marketing on partner-led demand generation campaigns, field events, and joint content tailored to EMEA verticals and buyer personas.
• Maintain accurate partner pipeline data in CRM; provide regular forecasts and performance reporting to VP of Global Partnerships and EMEA leadership.

Partner Enablement & Success

• Develop and deliver EMEA-specific partner enablement programs, including sales certifications, technical training, and solution play content aligned to Rafay's platform capabilities.
• Create and maintain partner-facing sales tools: joint solution briefs, co-branded pitch decks, qualifying question frameworks, objection handling guides, and competitive positioning aids.
• Build a systematic partner success cadence — regular business reviews, joint pipeline reviews, executive sponsor alignment, and escalation paths.
• Ensure partners achieve meaningful competency on Rafay's platform and can independently position, demo, and sell the core use cases (cluster lifecycle management, multi-cluster governance, AI/ML infrastructure, sovereign Kubernetes).

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary regional liaison between EMEA partners and Rafay's product, marketing, solutions engineering, and legal/finance teams.
• Surface partner and market feedback to inform Rafay's product roadmap, partner program design, and EMEA go-to-market priorities.
• Work closely with solutions engineering to support partner-led technical discovery, proof-of-concept engagements, and integration certifications.
• Collaborate with global alliances counterparts to ensure EMEA partner activities align with and contribute to global partnership agreements.

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Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years of partner, alliances, or business development experience in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, or SaaS; with at least 4+ years in an EMEA-specific leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated track record of building and scaling partner ecosystems in EMEA — including GSIs, regional SIs, and OEM alliances,— with measurable revenue outcomes.
• Proven ability to drive co-sell motions with field sales teams and translate partner relationships into qualified pipeline and closed revenue.
• Strong executive presence: comfortable presenting to and engaging C-suite stakeholders at both partner organizations and enterprise customers.
• Experience building and deploying partner enablement programs — training curricula, sales tools, partner portals, and certification programs.
• Deep familiarity with EMEA market dynamics across key verticals: financial services, telecom, public sector/sovereign, manufacturing, or defense.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; additional European language proficiency (German, French, Dutch) a strong plus.

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Preferred

• Background in Kubernetes, cloud-native infrastructure, DevOps platforms, or AI/ML infrastructure — either in a technical sales, solutions engineering, or alliance capacity.
• Experience building co-sell partnerships with Dell Technologies, DDN, Nvidia, or comparable infrastructure OEMs.
• Prior work with sovereign cloud or regulated AI infrastructure programs in EMEA government, defense, or telco sectors.
• Familiarity with MEDDPICC or equivalent enterprise sales methodologies.
• Bachelor's degree in business, computer science, or related field; MBA preferred.

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Why Join Rafay?

Rafay is at the forefront of GPU PaaS technologies and Kubernetes and we offer unique opportunities to join a winning team working on foundational technology for cloud and AI/ML services and enterprises. We work in a collaborative environment that rewards creative thinking and provides opportunities to advance professional careers in advanced technology development. On top of this we offer a fun and dynamic work environment, a competitive salary, robust benefits and attractive stock options. As the first of our kind, we are truly in a class of our own.