Director, Channel Partnerships

Director, Channel Partnerships Location: The Director, Channel Partnerships is a remote, work-from-home role, as are all positions at Acceleration Partners (a structure central to our culture and vision to change the work/life paradigm). Some travel is required for client meetings, internal meetings, conferences, and other events. Candidates should be based in the U.S. Role Purpose: Acceleration Partners is seeking a commercially-minded Strategic Partnerships leader to build and grow a high-value agency partner ecosystem that generates measurable business growth. This role owns both the health of our existing strategic partnerships and the development of new relationships that create pipeline, revenue and market influence. Working across Sales, Marketing, Strategy and Client Services, this person will ensure partnerships become a scalable commercial growth channel rather than simply a network of relationships. The Opportunity: The role has two equally important priorities: • Own and optimize AP's existing portfolio of strategic and technology partnerships, ensuring every relationship has clear objectives, governance and commercial value. • Build new partnerships across adjacent ecosystems—including AI, retail media, social commerce, consultancies, agencies, technology providers and investors—that create new routes to market and commercial opportunity. Success will be measured by pipeline generated, revenue influenced, strength of strategic relationships and the market intelligence brought back into the business. Key Responsibilities: Existing Partnership Management Own AP's portfolio of strategic and vendor partnerships. Implement a structured framework for partnership health, governance, renewals and executive engagement. Identify underperforming relationships and create recovery plans. Own referral routing and ensure opportunities progress through the commercial pipeline. New Partnership Development Identify and secure new strategic partners across adjacent markets. Build executive relationships and create joint business plans, referral programmes and co-selling opportunities. Identify when relationships should evolve into formal commercial agreements and support negotiations. Continuously identify emerging partnership opportunities and strategic whitespace. Commercial & Revenue Accountability Own partner-sourced pipeline and revenue targets. Measure both introductions created and commercial outcomes delivered. Report performance and recommend investment priorities. Cross-functional Leadership Partner with Sales on target accounts, introductions and joint pursuits. Work with Marketing on co-marketing, events, webinars and thought leadership. Collaborate with Strategy and Client Services to ensure partner activity aligns with client needs and market opportunities. Market Intelligence & External Representation Represent AP at conferences and industry events. Become a recognized industry voice within the partnership ecosystem. Bring back competitor intelligence, AI developments, customer trends and partnership opportunities to influence strategy and propositions. Skills & Experience: 7+ years in partnerships, alliances, business development or related roles. Services / consulting industry experience is preferred Demonstrated ownership of pipeline and revenue targets. Experience managing a portfolio of strategic partnerships. Excellent executive relationship-building and communication skills. Commercially minded with strong organizational discipline. Experience in digital marketing, affiliate, retail media or marketing technology desirable. Willingness to travel and represent AP externally. Measures of Success: Partner-sourced pipeline and revenue. Health and commercial value of strategic partnerships. New strategic partnerships established. Joint go-to-market initiatives delivered. Market intelligence adopted int