Why this role existsPartnerships are our highest-performing channel. One partnership manager has generated $1.1M in revenue since July 2025, with a Q1 run rate approaching $2M annually. Partner-referred deals close at 52% vs 37% for direct sales. Partnerships now account for 36% of total company revenue.
The opportunity is massive and barely tapped. The Shopify ecosystem alone has 80 Platinum partners globally (each managing 50-150 brands), 950 Premier/Plus partners (each managing ~20 clients), and a total addressable market north of $100M just from the platinum tier. We9ve proven the model works - now we need to scale it.
This is part founder-energy relationship building, part systems thinking at scale.
What you9ll own- Partner enablement and training - getting agency teams to understand Polar9s value prop, demo the product themselves, and refer qualified brands. You9ll create the 4Polar operating system4 for partners
- Full-funnel partner pipeline from identification through activation to revenue. 43% of current partners have referred at least one deal - your job is to push that number significantly higher
- Partner economics and deal structure. You9ll work with a 20% discount model (commission or client discount), master agency accounts, and bi-directional lead sharing. You need to make the math work for both sides
- AI and MCP as a partnership differentiator. Our MCP integrations are a major draw for technical agencies - you need to demo this confidently and help partners position it to their clients
- In-person relationship building at Shopify events, industry conferences, and agency visits. This role requires travel and face time - partnerships close on trust
- Tech-enabled scale - building automated workflows, partner nurture sequences, and systems that let you manage 100+ partner relationships without everything being manual
Who you areWe don9t have a rigid checklist of requirements. We9re looking for a specific kind of person:
- You9ve spent 3-4 years in partnerships, channel sales, or business development at a SaaS company. This is not your first job - you9ve built partner programs before and know what breaks at scale
- You9re tech-savvy and systems-oriented. You think about automation first and manual effort second. You9ve used or built partner tooling, CRM workflows, or enablement programs
- You know the Shopify ecosystem, ecommerce agency world, or DTC brand landscape. You understand how agencies make money and why they9d want to recommend a data platform
- You can handle the full funnel independently - from cold outreach to partner activation to ongoing relationship management. You don9t need someone to set up your meetings
- You9re comfortable demoing product and talking data with technical agency teams. AI, MCP, attribution models - you can explain the value without a sales engineer
- You9re energized by in-person relationship building. Events, dinners, agency visits - you see these as opportunities, not obligations
- You communicate clearly and close loops fast. No messages go unanswered, no commitments slip without an update
What separates A-playersYou think about partnerships as a system. You build the enablement materials, the automated nurture, and the feedback loops that let you scale from 20 partners to 200 without burning out. You understand that partner close rates are higher because the trust is pre-built - and you invest in that trust systematically. You9re as comfortable building a Slack workflow as you are buying dinner for an agency founder.
What our customers seeThese are the results partners help their clients achieve with Polar:
- Thiege consolidated 9 different tools into Polar and saved $300K per year vs building their own data stack
- CABA improved their ROAS by 65% using our attribution model and incrementality testing to reallocate spend
- Modular Closet grew Klaviyo flow revenue by 50% with our CDP and identity resolution layer
- Quadlock started with us below $10M - we helped them scale to 9 figures and a $350M acquisition
How we hireWe believe the best people want to go through a demanding process. We9ve learned the hard way that great interviewers aren9t always great operators - so our process is designed to see how you think, not how you present.
1. Motivation screen - A quick call to understand what drives you and whether there9s mutual fit
2. Live case study - A real scenario where you work through a problem in real time. No prep decks, no take-homes. We want to see how you actually operate
3. Leadership conversations - Meet the team, understand the culture, make sure this is somewhere you want to build
Our hiring bar: if this person started a company, would we want to join them?
