Partner Sales Executive, North America Channel

Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation, and IoT. Our customers include the world’s leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors. The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with over 1200 colleagues in more than 75 countries and very few office‑based roles.

Canonical is founder‑led, profitable, and growing. The company is expanding its channel sales team to capitalize on rapidly growing demand from channel partners, leveraging their expertise and connections to bring open source technology to organizations across multiple industries.

The Partner Sales Executive, North America Channel will report to the Director, Americas Channel Sales and requires a mix of farming and hunting capabilities. The successful candidate will be responsible for achieving assigned annual growth quotas.

They should be able to identify, prospect, and engage reseller and distributor partners to build and maintain relationships and grow Canonical’s business within the assigned territory. The successful candidate must be comfortable owning and leading initiatives in an unstructured, startup‑like environment. This individual must be able to sell open source, cloud, virtualization, and technical software solutions. Although the role is focused primarily on reseller and distributor channel partners, the successful candidate must be capable of and comfortable with initial customer discovery calls and presentations as appropriate.

Location: US or Canada

• Develop and execute channel strategy for distributors and resellers within the assigned territory
• Increase awareness of Canonical as a lead player in Open Source and Cloud (Private, Hybrid, Multi, and Public models)
• Identify and recruit new potential partners in assigned territory
• Leverage personal network and prospecting skills to engage new partners and build on Canonical's already‑successful relationships
• Guide partners through onboarding and enablement
• Develop mutually beneficial go‑to‑market plans and commitments with partners
• Arrange and execute sales and pre‑sales trainings to these resellers
• Drive and manage channel pipeline through recurring partner interactions
• Support partner's satisfaction and act as trusted advisor and point of contact
• Maintain a regularity/frequency of contact with priority resellers and distributors

• Bachelor's level degree, preferably in a technology field
• Experience in software or technology sales from the specified market
• Fluency in English
• An understanding of open source, Linux and Ubuntu
• A self‑starter with a proven track record of achieving sales targets
• Detail oriented with strong follow‑up skills
• Effective negotiating skills with ability to close sales
• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills (written and verbal)
• Productive in a globally distributed team through self‑discipline and self‑motivation
• Mature approach to long‑term relationship development with customers
• The ability to represent the company at external events
• Start‑up experience would be an advantage

• Compensation: geographical location, experience and performance shape compensation. Base pay plus performance‑driven annual bonus or commission. Annual review.
• Benefits:
  Annual holiday leave, maternity and paternity leave, Employee Assistance Programme, and travel upgrades for long haul company events.
• Learning & Development: $2,000 learning budget per year, support for conferences, and access to training resources.
• Travel:
  Biannual team sprints in person, Priority Pass, and travel upgrades for long haul events.

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud, we are changing the world of software. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company.

We expect excellence – in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Most colleagues at Canonical have worked from home since its inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future, and it will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.