Senior Partner Development Manager

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Are you actively looking for a new opportunity? Or just checking the market? Well… you might just be in the right place!

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Partner Development Manager to join our Partnerships team at Lightspeed. This role is built for a “hunter” type with demonstrated success, driving material impact through outbound partnerships acquisition and development efforts. Possessing excellent business acumen, a high energy level, demonstrated critical thinking and presentation skills, creative problem-solving skills, and a highly professional demeanor, a successful candidate for this role is an experienced go-getter who knows how to identify, source, navigate and land high value agreements with channel partners, and work through complex operational and contractual requirements with multiple stakeholders, possessing drive, resilience, patience, and skilled relationship management.

We are open to hiring remote candidates based anywhere in the United States

You’ll be responsible for identifying, sourcing, and providing initial development of nascent but high-impact distribution relationships — the kind that require patience, foresight, and influence, but have the capacity to deliver at multiples beyond current motions. These are not transactional partnerships; they’re intentional channel plays designed to unlock step-change growth through clearly articulated shared outcomes, thoroughly aligned go-to-market execution, integration and shared roadmaps, and alignment at the executive level. To the extent valuable relationships require consideration of changes in our or our partners’ operating processes to ensure success, you’ll be instrumental in developing business cases and operational plans to support new ways of working, collaborating with key stakeholders across Partnerships, Product, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Legal and Operations and other parts of the internal and partner organizations as required.

You’ll work closely with partnerships and other leadership in the company to provide continuous feedback and improvement on partner acquisition, activation and retention strategies. As a partnership is being established, you’ll work closely with the head of partner growth to ensure a clear handoff plan for partner launch, success, and ongoing management post contract signature.

What you'll be doing:

• Working closely with senior partnerships and sales leadership, identify and align on key target segments, partner types and recruitment plans
• Within identified priority segments, identify, qualify, prioritize, pursue and land a portfolio of top tier distribution partners with significant business potential and long-term value creation opportunities.
• Develop partner penetration plans, partner pitches and joint value propositions
• Identify and qualify proposed partnership arrangements for impact, timing, degree of difficulty and risk
• Negotiate complex commercial agreements with multiple internal and external stakeholders that balance partner and Lightspeed requirements, operational capabilities, time to market, and revenue impact.
• Develop, negotiate, plan and document end-to-end GTM motions, including joint marketing activities with partners, and success metrics
• Work alongside partner growth management to align on clear mutual success metrics and develop clear timelines and milestones for partner management handoff.
• Assist partner growth management as needed in developing and leading strategic reviews with partner executives to evaluate success, align priorities, and define next-phase growth initiatives
• Work cross-functionally with Product, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Legal, Operations and other teams to define operational requirements and ensure seamless execution.
• Track and report on partnership acquisition efforts and results, and calibrate downstream partnership success against initial estimates developed during the partnership qualification phase, with a focus on continued feedback and improvement in forecasting ROI, pipeline influence, and market impact.
• As required, represent Lightspeed externally at partner-focused industry events, trade shows, and partner gatherings as a credible, consultative voice in the retail POS partner space
• Stay ahead of industry trends, identifying important partnership opportunities tha