The roleElement451 is hiring a Partner Development Manager to turn our consulting and technology partners into predictable, joint value streams. You'll own a portfolio of partners, build joint pipeline with them, and get their teams and ours working the same deals. This is a mid-senior individual contributor role. You report to the VP of Strategic Partnerships and carry a partner-sourced pipeline and bookings number.
You'll work two kinds of partners:
- Consulting partners: higher ed implementation firms, enrollment and student success consultancies, and systems integrators that advise schools on CRM selection and deliver implementations.
- Technology partners: SIS and ERP vendors, application platforms, data providers, and other higher ed software companies whose products integrate with Element451.
What you'll do- Build joint business plans with your top 8 to 10 partners, with named target accounts, pipeline goals, and a quarterly review.
- Source and co-sell deals. Run account mapping with partners, set first meetings, and stay on deals through close with our Account Executives.
- Run deal registration in HubSpot. Review submissions, resolve conflicts, and keep partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline accurately attributed.
- Enable partner teams. Deliver product training, demo certification, and sales plays so partners can position Element AI CRM and Bolt agents without us in the room.
- Launch joint go-to-market with Marketing: co-branded webinars, conference presence, case studies, and campaigns into shared accounts.
- Hand off cleanly to Services so consulting partners deliver on scope when a client project moves to them.
- Report monthly on pipeline, bookings, and partner health. Use the data to invest in partners that produce and cut the ones that don't.
- Represent Element451 at partner events and higher ed conferences.
What you bring- 6+ years in B2B SaaS partnerships, channel sales, or alliances, with at least 3 years carrying a partner-sourced revenue number.
- A track record of growing partner-sourced pipeline that you can show in numbers.
- Experience with both consulting firms or SIs and technology partners, and a clear view of how each one makes money.
- Strong co-selling skills. You can run discovery, map accounts, and move a deal forward alongside a partner's rep.
- Working knowledge of partner economics: referral fees, resale margins, services subcontracting, and deal registration rules.
- Fluency in HubSpot or Salesforce. You keep your own pipeline clean and forecast it accurately.
- Clear writing and presenting. You can brief a partner's leadership team and train their sellers in the same week.
- Willingness to travel about 25% of the time.
Nice to have- Higher ed experience in admissions, enrollment, student success, or continuing education technology.
- Relationships in higher ed consulting firms or in ecosystems such as Ellucian, Workday Student, Slate, Salesforce Education Cloud, or Anthology.
- Experience selling or partnering around AI agents or automation products.
- Experience building a partner program from an early stage: tiers, certification, a partner portal, or PRM tools.
