Job Summary

The Strategic Alliances Architect is BlackLine's expert on navigating sales cycles with our strategic alliance partners. They work to ensure that BlackLine and partner sales/presales teams can successfully align to sell Blackline's market-leading finance and accounting solutions. This role is primarily focused on enabling the global BlackLine Sales Organization to support SAP (and potentially other alliance partners) in recognizing, accelerating, and closing sales opportunities for BlackLine offerings. This includes but is not limited to developing enablement plans and curriculum, creating content, and providing ongoing, direct support to members of Sales teams (internal and external) on navigating Alliances-driven sales opportunities. The Strategic Alliances Architect will work closely with BlackLine's Strategic Alliances and partner resources to define enablement objectives and the operational processes required to execute and measure successful outcomes. They will also support BlackLine Field Alliances directors in defining and executing regional plans to enable all relevant roles (internal and external) within their local geographies. The Strategic Alliances Architect should have deep expertise in SAP's solutions and how BlackLine complements SAP, as well as a thorough understanding of our other strategic alliance partnerships, including but not limited to the structure of the sales organization and supporting roles, sales cycles and the strategies that should be employed by BlackLine at various stages to drive alignment.

Roles and Responsibility (list in order of importance)

- Be the BlackLine expert on navigating the nuances of our Alliances-driven sales cycles (e.g., SAP SolEx) and how they differ from direct-sale opportunities

- Establish relationships and work closely with BlackLine and partner stakeholders (e.g., Solution Marketing, various teams within SAP) to better understand our intended audiences, complementary positioning, and how to leverage the right resources to drive successful sales opportunities for BlackLine offerings

- Develop and deliver enablement (for internal and external audiences) on the value of our alliance partnerships, the complementary nature of our solution offerings, and how to work with our alliance partners at all stages of the sales cycle, including how/when to leverage appropriate BlackLine resources

- Contribute to the ongoing development and maintenance of our Sales-focused playbooks (e.g., SolEx Playbook), demos and value selling tools that support the complementary nature of our solution offerings

- Foster relationships with regional leadership (internal and external) to regularly provide enablement updates and solicit feedback from all stakeholder teams

- Individually mentor new and existing members of the Sales organization and other customer-facing roles about working within our alliance partnerships

- Work closely with internal and external Sales, Solutions Consulting, Field Alliances, and other account team members as needed to support business development and sales activities

- Communicate with other BlackLine departments (e.g., Marketing, Product) to stay abreast of new developments and ensure enablement plans reflect the latest and greatest as it pertains to our alliance partnerships

- Collaborate with other enablement teams (e.g., Sales Enablement, Partner Enablement, SC Enablement) to execute on mutually beneficial programs

- Provide support as needed across all Center of Excellence, Strategic Alliances, and Go-to-Market programs to accelerate opportunities and generate revenue for BlackLine

Required Qualifications

Years of Experience in Related Field: 8+ years in software sales/presales role, SAP or SAP partner ecosystem preferred

Education: Four-year degree in Accounting, Finance or Business Administration preferred

Technical/Specialized Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

- High degree of BlackLine and SAP product knowledge

- Experience creating and delivering compelling presentations

- Excellent written and verbal communication skills required

- Technically savvy with a broad understanding of various tools and platforms

Preferred Qualifications

- Previous enterprise level experience in Sales, Presales or Alliances with SAP or an SAP Solution Extension partner

- Prior experience with accounting/finance software a plus

- Strengths in problem solving and alternative ways to improve process efficiencies

- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain trusted relationships with partners, prospects, and customers

- Proven ability to translate prospective client/partner objectives into solutions

- Experience selling and managing large transformational projects at strategic accounts

- Experience consulting on process improvement and technology enablement

Working Conditions

Some travel (domestic/global) may be required to support in-person activities.