Partner Account Executive

Job description

What You'll Do

As a Partner Account Manager, you will be responsible for building and growing strategic relationships with key Partners, aligning their business priorities with Cisco’s technology portfolio and go-to-market strategy. You will serve as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, helping Partners accelerate transformation, expand Cisco practices, and drive long-term business growth.

You will develop and execute strategic partner account plans, identify opportunities to strengthen Partner capabilities, and orchestrate cross-functional collaboration across Cisco teams to deliver impactful business outcomes. Leveraging market insights and industry trends, you will position Partners to capitalize on emerging technologies, drive demand generation activities, and create differentiated solutions for customers.

In this role, you will:

• Build, develop, and maintain trusted advisor relationships with strategic Partners, understanding their business models, priorities, and growth objectives
• Guide Partners toward increased adoption and expansion of Cisco technologies, solutions, and business practices
• Develop and execute strategic partner account plans focused on business growth, capability development, and transformation initiatives
• Drive Partner practice development and differentiated GTM strategies across Cisco architectures, software, services, and ecosystem solutions
• Collaborate with Cisco sales, specialist, and Partner teams to align Partner capabilities with customer and market opportunities
• Identify and drive demand generation initiatives that align Partner offerings with customer needs to create pipeline and accelerate growth
• Lead complex business discussions and negotiations involving GTM commitments, ecosystem collaboration, and strategic investments
• Provide consultative engagement to uncover and influence large-scale business opportunities
• Leverage data-driven insights, forecasting, and performance monitoring to optimize Partner business outcomes and operational excellence
• Anticipate market disruptions and emerging technology trends, advising Partners and internal leadership on future-ready strategies
• Represent Cisco and the Partner ecosystem at strategic customer engagements and industry events

Your Impact

You will play a critical role in strengthening Cisco’s Partner ecosystem by enabling Partners to evolve their capabilities, accelerate innovation, and deliver differentiated customer outcomes. Through strategic relationship management and business planning, you will help drive revenue growth, improve Partner performance, and expand Cisco’s market presence.

Your ability to influence executive stakeholders, orchestrate cross-functional collaboration, and align Partner strategies with Cisco priorities will contribute directly to long-term business growth and customer success.

Who You Are

You are a strategic relationship builder with strong business acumen and experience managing complex Partner or enterprise ecosystems. You are comfortable engaging executive stakeholders, driving consultative discussions, and influencing business decisions across multiple organizations.

You bring a strong understanding of technology go-to-market strategies, Partner business models, and ecosystem-led selling. You thrive in highly collaborative environments and are skilled at navigating ambiguity, aligning diverse stakeholders, and driving measurable business outcomes.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of related experience, or Master’s degree with 6+ years of related experience, or PhD with 3+ years of related experience
• Experience managing strategic Partner, channel, alliance, or enterprise relationships
• Experience developing and executing business plans, GTM strategies, and growth initiatives
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally across sales, technical, and business teams
• Strong executive communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with large regional or global system integrators, service providers, or strategic channel Partners
• Understanding of Cisco technologies, architectures, software, and services business models
• Experience driving ecosystem partnerships, co-selling motions, or solution-based selling strategies
• Strong analytical and operational skills, including forecasting, performance management, and business planning
• Experience presenting to executive leadership and participating in strategic industry engagements

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. 

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.