Strategic Partner Manager

About Us

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently.

Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values:

Bold in how we dream and innovate

Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities

Accountable for results and best in class outcomes

Visionary in future focused problem-solving

Exceptional in execution and impact

In today’s cyber threat landscape, protection starts with people. At Proofpoint, that simple truth fuels our passion for protecting users, the data they create, and the systems they rely on from a uniquely people-centric perspective.

And we’re just as passionate about finding the right people to help us in that mission. When you join Proofpoint, you’re helping to:

• Build and enhance our proven security platform

• Blend innovation and speed in a constantly evolving cloud environment

• Analyze new threats and offer deep insight through data-driven intel

• Collaborate with customers to help solve their toughest security challenges

We are singularly devoted to helping our customers protect their greatest assets and biggest security risk: their people. That’s why we’re a leader in next-generation cybersecurity—and why more than half of the Fortune 100 trust us as a security partner.

The Strategic Partner Manager is a senior-level individual contributor responsible for managing and optimizing operational performance across Proofpoint’s third-party Technical Customer Support vendor partners. This role ensures that vendor activities are aligned with business priorities, drives operational improvements, and amplifies the effectiveness of our global support ecosystem.

Acting as a key strategic advisor to the Director, Vendor Management, this role requires strong analytical skills, operational depth, and the ability to influence both internal stakeholders and external vendor leaders—without direct people management.

• Partner closely with vendor leadership to ensure alignment with Proofpoint’s goals, support strategy, and customer experience standards.

• Serve as a strategic liaison between internal teams and vendor partners to drive transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

• Monitor contract adherence and identify opportunities to optimize vendor services.

• Evaluate vendor performance across KPIs, SLAs, quality metrics, and productivity benchmarks.

• Identify operational gaps, propose structured improvement plans, and track progress through completion.

• Support readiness for product changes, workflow modifications, and major program rollouts.

• Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Customer Success, Support Operations, and internal Support teams to ensure vendor alignment with business needs.

• Represent the vendor organization in cross-functional meetings, project discussions, and operational reviews.

• Communicate vendor impact, risks, and opportunities clearly to senior leadership.

• Lead vendor-related initiatives and process improvement programs—driving structure, documentation, and execution.

• Maintain operational…