Partner Account Director

Who you are

• 10+ years of enterprise software sales, partnerships, alliances, business development, channel, or related go-to-market experience
• 7+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, channel management, or strategic alliance roles strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience in the U.S. Public Sector market within a software company, technology distributor, systems integrator, or consulting organization
• Proven success building and executing partner ecosystem go-to-market strategies
• Experience leading strategic alliance relationships and identifying mutual business interests that create measurable growth
• Deep understanding of Public Sector contracting, procurement, sales processes, and industry trends
• Strong understanding of how government integrators and consulting firms operate and how software companies can help accelerate their growth
• Experience selling or partnering with C-level executives and senior decision-makers
• Demonstrated ability to operate across co-sell, resale, demand generation, marketing, and service-delivery motions
• Highly analytical and data-driven, with a strategic mindset and a pragmatic approach to execution
• Strong program management skills with the ability to establish accountability and scalable partner management processes
• Executive presence and strong written, verbal, and presentation skills
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority and navigate competing priorities across diverse stakeholders
• Ability to thrive in a fast-changing environment while operating with autonomy and clear accountability for results
• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business, Computer Science, or a related field
• Experience working at a Global Systems Integrator or Federal Systems Integrator delivering technology solutions to the Public Sector market
• Experience transitioning from a GSI or FSI into a software or SaaS organization
• Working knowledge of business process automation and experience identifying and qualifying client solution areas
• Experience orchestrating complex, multi-departmental solution sales
• Experience helping service providers construct consulting and implementation practices around enterprise software products
• Background in enterprise software, SaaS, cloud technology, or business process automation
• Demonstrated success building new partner programs, routes to market, or joint solution offerings
• Tenacious, competitive, thorough, and motivated by achieving superior results

What the job involves

• Appian is seeking a Partner Account Director – U.S. Public Sector to collaborate with our Public Sector leadership team and drive strategy and go-to-market execution across our largest and most strategic partners. This role will be responsible for fostering executive alignment, generating consistent incremental partner-sourced revenue, and supporting exceptional service delivery
• This role will align assigned partners across executive, sales, technical, marketing, and delivery functions around Appian solutions to scale the business. The ideal candidate is a strategic and experienced partnerships leader who can develop joint business plans, drive enablement, secure executive buy-in, establish strong cross-functional relationships, and create a consistent operating rhythm that strengthens partnerships and accelerates revenue growth
• Develop and execute strategic business plans for Appian’s largest and most strategic U.S. Public Sector partners
• Drive end-to-end partner strategy across co-sell, resale, demand generation, marketing, enablement, and delivery motions
• Build executive alignment between Appian and assigned partners to establish shared priorities, investment plans, and growth objectives
• Generate consistent incremental partner-sourced pipeline and revenue through joint go-to-market initiatives
• Establish a strong operating rhythm with partners, including business reviews, pipeline inspection, action tracking, and executive engagement
• Build relationships across partner executive, sales, technical, marketing, and delivery organizations
• Identify customer, partner, and marketplace trends that create opportunities for joint solutions and new routes to market
• Partner with service providers to develop compelling consulting and implementation practices around Appian’s software platform
• Collaborate with Appian Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, and Services teams to ensure coordinated execution across partner initiatives
• Support the development of joint offerings, campaigns, enablement programs, and account strategies aligned to Public Sector priorities
• Navigate competing internal and external priorities while maintaining accountability for partner outcomes
• Use data, market insights, and performance metrics to evaluate partner health, identify execution gaps, and recommend corrective actions
• Present partnership strategy, business impact, pipeline performance, and growth recommendations to senior internal and external stakeholders
• Create scalable partner management processes and workflows that improve consistency, accountability, and execution
• Success in this role will be measured by:
• Incremental partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline and revenue
• Effectiveness of joint co-sell, resale, marketing, and demand-generation motions
• Executive alignment and engagement across Appian and assigned partners
• Development and execution of strategic joint business plans
• Growth of partner-led service practices and solution offerings around Appian
• Strength and consistency of the partner operating rhythm, including business reviews and action follow-through
• Cross-functional alignment across Sales, Marketing, Services, Customer Success, and partner teams
• Overall health, productivity, and strategic value of assigned partner relationships