Sr. Director, Channel Partnerships

Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you’ll find your place here.  We value winning together—while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world. 

We are looking for a Director of Channel Partnerships to build and scale our partner ecosystem with a focus on cloud-native and AI-focused channel partners. You’ll be responsible for identifying and onboarding high-potential partners (VARs, MSPs, ISVs, SIs, and consultancies) who serve digital-native enterprises, while also building a world-class channel sales team. This is a strategic, high-impact role that will accelerate revenue through indirect channels and amplify DigitalOcean’s position in the cloud and AI ecosystems.

As a Director of Channel Partnerships at DigitalOcean, you will join a dynamic team dedicated to revolutionizing cloud computing and AI. 

What You’ll Do:

Partner Strategy & Development

• Define, lead and execute DigitalOcean’s channel and partner strategy, with a focus on recruiting, growing and monetizing relationships with cloud-native and AI-centric partners serving digital-native businesse
• Identify and recruit strategic, high-potential partners focused on AI and digital-native businesses (startups, SaaS, generative AI, Web3, etc.).
• Develop joint GTM strategies and commercial models in partnership with product and revenue operations that incentivize partner engagement and drive pipeline and revenue growth

Go-To-Market & Revenue Generation

• Partner with internal Sales and Marketing teams to design and execute joint marketing campaigns, co-selling programs, and event strategies that drive partner-led pipeline and customer acquisition.
• Enable partners to deliver AI workloads and modern application solutions on DigitalOcean’s platform, leveraging products like Droplets, Kubernetes, App Platform, Spaces, and GPU offerings.
• Track and report on pipeline generation, deal velocity, and close rates from the channel to ensure visibility and accountability across the org.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Engineering, AI GTM, and Developer Relations teams to align on product-market fit and co-innovation opportunities with partners.
• Collaborate with the AI GTM and developer advocacy teams to align on key partnerships and ecosystems.
• Be a thought leader and internal advocate for the value of partnerships, driving integration of channel efforts into core sales and marketing motions.

Partner Enablement & Success

• Lead strategic negotiations and co-sell motions with top-tier partners; manage executive-level relationships to ensure alignment and joint investment.
• Work with partner program manager to create scalable onboarding, certification, and enablement programs to ensure partners are technically and commercially equipped to succeed with DigitalOcean.
• Develop and manage partner tiers, incentive structures, and deal registration processes to support partner growth, alignment, and fairness.

Operational Excellence

• Own forecasting, reporting, and operational KPIs for the partner channel.
• Work with systems and ops teams to define partner workflows, tooling, and performance tracking.

What You’ll Add to DigitalOcean:

• 7+ years of experience in channel partnerships, business development, or indirect sales within the cloud infrastructure, SaaS, or AI/ML ecosystem, with a strong track record of building and scaling partner programs that deliver measurable revenue impact.
• Proven success recruiting, onboarding, and managing different types of partners — including VARs, MSPs, system integrators, ISVs, AI solution providers, and consultancies — ideally with experience in both global and regional partner landscapes.
• Understanding of cloud computing concepts and technologies (IaaS, PaaS, containers, Kubernetes, developer tools, AI/ML frameworks, GPU workloads) and the ability to credibly engage with both technical and commercial stakeholders.
• Familiarity with the needs and buying behaviors of digital-native companies, such as SaaS startups, AI-first businesses, e-commerce platforms, Web3 companies, and dev-centric teams. Experience in GTM motions targeting these segments is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated ability to at first be a player/coach, and build