Upbound · 3 months ago
Head of Alliances and Partnerships (REMOTE)
United States
Full-time
Remote
Senior Level
7+ years expUpbound is pioneering infrastructure platforms for the Agentic AI Era, serving Fortune 500 companies and platform engineers across more than 100 countries. They are seeking a Head of Partnerships & Alliances to define and execute the ecosystem and alliance strategy, build strategic relationships, and drive commercial success for Upbound's enterprise platform through collaboration with various stakeholders.
Cloud ComputingInformation ServicesInformation TechnologySoftware
Responsibilities
Build strategic relationships within the Crossplane ecosystem — including contributors, maintainers, and adjacent project communities — to expand adoption and integration momentum
Collaborate with open-source foundations and community leaders to strengthen the broader control plane and platform engineering ecosystem
Support co-marketing, education, and joint initiatives that celebrate community success and reinforce Upbound’s leadership within open source
Partner with Developer Relations and Product teams to ensure two-way collaboration between community innovation and enterprise needs
Identify, negotiate, and grow high-impact partnerships with hyperscalers (AWS, Azure, GCP), ISVs, and SIs
Develop joint GTM strategies that integrate Crossplane and Upbound into partner ecosystems, marketplaces, and managed service offerings
Collaborate on technical integrations that expand Crossplane’s reach while reinforcing Upbound’s commercial differentiation
Act as a bridge between open-source innovation, partner value creation, and enterprise adoption
Architect and execute partner-led GTM motions including co-selling, account mapping, co-marketing, sales enablement, and joint value propositions
Work closely with marketing to create partner case studies, technical stories, and ecosystem campaigns that highlight real-world outcomes
Translate developer and community adoption signals into commercial opportunities with measurable pipeline impact
Leverage modern GTM and partner analytics tools to optimize engagement, track influence, and refine strategies
Design and operationalize a scalable partner program including onboarding, enablement, incentives, and performance tracking
Define partner tiers, certification paths, and engagement models for both open-source collaborators and commercial partners
Establish clear KPIs for ecosystem health, engagement, and partner-driven revenue
Collaborate with product and engineering leadership to ensure partnerships align with roadmap priorities and strategic initiatives
Advocate for integration opportunities and feedback from both the open-source and commercial ecosystems
Drive alignment between Crossplane’s community direction and Upbound’s enterprise strategy to create synergy across the stack
Represent Upbound and Crossplane at industry events, partner forums, and cloud-native conferences
Act as a senior ambassador across open-source, cloud, and enterprise ecosystems — balancing authenticity, influence, and strategic clarity
Contribute to thought leadership and ecosystem storytelling that elevate Upbound’s role in the Intelligent Control Plane movement
Qualification
Required
7+ years in technology partnerships, strategic alliances, or business development within cloud, SaaS, ISV, or open-source technology companies
Proven success building and scaling partner ecosystems in high-growth, developer-led or open-source-first environments
Experience managing both open-source and commercial partnerships simultaneously — balancing community trust with business goals
Track record negotiating complex partnerships with global cloud providers, ISVs, and SIs
Deep understanding of cloud computing, infrastructure platforms, and the cloud-native landscape (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Familiarity with open-source governance, contribution workflows, and community engagement best practices
Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills; able to measure and communicate partner and ecosystem ROI
Exceptional collaboration, communication, and influence skills across technical and executive audiences
Proficiency with CRM and partner management tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, PRM platforms)
Preferred
Are fluent in open source and developer ecosystems; prior contributor or community involvement is a plus
Experience working with or within cloud provider partner programs (AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, GCP Partner Advantage)
Curiosity about AI-native infrastructure and how intelligent systems reshape partner and GTM ecosystems
Comfort balancing startup pace with strategic long-term thinking; thrives in ambiguity and loves building new playbooks
Strong storytelling instincts — able to articulate complex ecosystem narratives in simple, compelling ways
Authentic, community-minded approach that prioritizes trust and shared success
Experience presenting at industry events, technical summits, or open-source conferences
Company
Upbound
Upbound is an infrastructure management platform that runs, scales, and optimizes services across multiple cloud environments.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$69MKey Investors
Altimeter CapitalGoogle Ventures
2021-11-29Series B· $60M
2018-05-02Series A· $9M
Leadership Team
Bassam Tabbara
Founder and CEO
Sarah Strobhar
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
Recent News
2026-01-22
The Motley Fool
2026-01-06
2025-11-07
Company data provided by crunchbase