About the role
About the Role
Gruve is seeking a highly motivated and relationship-driven Partner & Alliances Manager based in Mumbai or Bengaluru to lead and expand our strategic partnerships across the APAC region. This individual will play a key role in managing partner relationships, executing regional GTM activities, and supporting global partner program execution in close collaboration with leadership and key stakeholders.
You will serve as a regional ambassador for Gruve's partnership strategy, working closely with local OEMs, distributors, and technology alliances while aligning with internal sales, marketing, learning & development, and technical teams across time zones. This role is pivotal to Gruve's international growth and partner-driven revenue acceleration.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Relationship Development
- Build and manage business-level relationships with regional partners, distributors, and OEM stakeholders.
- Establish and maintain executive and business-level relationships and map OEMs with Gruve leadership.
- Represent Gruve at APAC-based partner events, conferences, and enablement sessions.
- Act as the primary point of contact for regional partner activities, escalations, and collaboration.
- Map Gruve business goals with OEM sellers, services team, and leadership, and drive the strategy.
Partner Program Mastery & Execution
- Execute local GTM plans in coordination with global partner leadership and stakeholders.
- Develop and execute a joint GTM plan to drive activity planning, co-sell motions, pipeline acceleration, partner-led deals, and programs.
- Track and report regional partnership certifications, event participation, and performance KPIs in collaboration with learning & development.
- Act as the internal expert on all partner programs, incentives/rebates, deal registration, and other partnership benefits in the region.
- Leverage MDF, rebates, SPIFFs, discounts, and sales plays to maximize profitability.
- Guide leadership on how to extract maximum value from each partnership.
- Work cross-functionally to support sales and other teams on partner-related initiatives.
- Conduct due diligence on compliance and partnership status, and maintain partnership and legal records.
- Own and elevate Gruve's program membership levels to achieve the highest tier(s).
Internal Leadership & Cross-Functional Alignment
- Provide regular updates to leadership on opportunities, risks, growth, and revenue impact.
- Work closely with Presales and Sales Leadership, aligning with business goals and strategy.
- Lead QBRs to assess progress and identify growth opportunities.
- Drive the charter and roadmap using insights from market trends, customer needs, leadership direction, and partner ecosystems aligned with Gruve's strategic interests.
- Establish strong alignment between Gruve's sales teams and partner sales organizations to drive joint success.
Basic Qualifications
- 7–10 years of experience in partnerships and alliances (preferably in tech/software)
- Must be able to travel to partner conferences and/or onsite visits throughout the region.
- Proven experience working with one or more APAC OEMs or distributors (e.g., Cisco, Red Hat, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, CrowdStrike, Zscaler, AWS, GCP, Ingram Micro. TD SYNNEX, Etevers etc.)
- Strong ability to build executive relationships and influence cross-functional teams.
- Ability to navigate complex partner ecosystems and align joint value propositions.
- Must be able to collaborate across time zones with internal teams in the U.S., EMEA, and beyond.
Preferred Qualifications
- Background within a System Integrator (SI) or channel partner organization, with firsthand understanding of how SIs structure and manage OEM, distributor, and technology alliances.
- Excellent relationship management and communication skills.
- Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to think strategically and act autonomously in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders and timelines.
- Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth environments.