What is The Role

The Director, Partner Ecosystem & Channel Governance is responsible for owning and growing Elastic's distribution relationships and long tail partner strategy across key Global Public Sector distribution partners in the United States and Canada. This role is the primary point of accountability for distribution-led pipeline generation, reseller enablement, co-sell execution, and revenue performance across Public Sector segments — including Federal, SLED, and International..

The successful candidate will serve as the connective tissue between Elastic's Global Public Sector sales teams, partner teams, and strategic distributors — driving partner-sourced new and expansion ARR through a managed reseller ecosystem. This role requires a candidate with strong technical capabilities, as driving deep technical alignment and enablement of distribution and distributor led partners will be key to success.  Critically, this role owns the rules of engagement between Elastic and its distribution partners: setting margin policy, back-end rebate terms, deal registration SLAs, and reseller tier criteria in partnership with GPS Operations. This is a strategic governance role, not a tactical execution role.

What You Will Be Doing

1. Distribution Strategy & Partner Program Governance

• Own joint business plans with public sector distribution partners; define quarterly pipeline targets, reseller recruitment goals, and segment-level priorities across FED, SLED, and AMER Commercial.
• Set and maintain the rules of engagement between Elastic and its distribution partners — including margin policy, back-end rebate structures, deal registration SLAs, reseller tier criteria, and MDF allocation thresholds — in partnership with GPS Operations & Strategy.
• Build and maintain executive-level relationships at the VP/SVP level with distribution leadership, partner and segment sales teams at key public sector distribution partners. Position quarterly business reviews as executive governance sessions — agenda setting, scorecard presentation, and strategic realignment — distinct from tactical cadence management.
• Develop and execute a distribution GTM playbook aligned to Elastic's FY partner-sourced N&E ARR targets and reseller coverage model.
• Partner with Global Public Sector Operations to track distributor performance against KPIs including partner-sourced ARR, deal registration volume, pipeline coverage ratio, and reseller activation rates.

1. Canada Distribution Strategy

• Own Canada distribution strategy as a discrete workstream: map the Canadian VAR landscape, align to provincial SLED procurement requirements, and develop a distributor coverage model for the CA market.
• Build relationships with Canadian distribution leadership and identify net-new reseller recruitment opportunities specific to the Canadian Public Sector and commercial market.
• Ensure Canada-specific contract vehicles, provincial procurement channels, and compliance requirements are reflected in joint business plans and GTM execution.

1. Cloud Marketplace Transactional Strategy

• Develop and execute a cloud marketplace transactional strategy through distribution, aligning AWS Marketplace, Azure Marketplace, and GCP Marketplace vehicles with distributor co-sell motions and reseller procurement preferences.
• Partner with Elastic's cloud alliances teams (AWS, Azure, GCP) to ensure marketplace-eligible deals sourced through distribution are properly attributed and incentivized.
• Track marketplace transaction volume through distribution as a separate KPI, and develop playbooks for expanding marketplace-led procurement across FED and SLED segments.

1. Technical Enablement & Distribution Partner Readiness

• Build the enablement infrastructure for distribution partner technical readiness — including demo environments, lab guides, battlecards, and certification tracks specific to Search, Observability, and Security solutions. 
• Orchestrate quarterly distributor enablement sessions featuring technical tracks for AI search and SIEM alongside business reviews and incentive updates.
• Accelerate reseller certification rates through tight coordination with distribution and proactive reporting in collaboration with the Elastic Partner Enablement organization.
• Support distributor-led sales cycles by delivering technical product demonstrations when additional pre-sales resources are required through the distribution channel.

1. Reseller Ecosystem Development

• Identify, recruit, and enable net-new resellers through public sector distribution partners; own reseller tiering decisions and partner program alignment.
• Drive reseller activation through demand generation programs, MDF utilization, and joint marketing motions coordinated through distribution.
• Collaborate with Elastic's Partner Enablement team to ensure resellers achieve required certifications and training completion milestones.
• Maintain a healthy, active reseller pipeline across AMER Commercial and U.S. Public Sector (FED and SLED).

1. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Channel Operations

• Partner with sales managers (RVPs, ASMs) and partner managers across GPS to integrate distribution into account and territory planning.
• Work with Global Public Sector Operations & Strategy on distributor discount structures, incentive programs, and data integrity within Salesforce/Impartner. Set quoting policy; tactical quoting execution remains with the distributor.
• Collaborate with Elastic's Marketing team to develop and deploy partner-funded demand generation campaigns through public sector distribution partners.
• Escalate and resolve distributor-facing channel conflicts, pricing disputes, and deal registration exceptions in coordination with Global Public Sector leadership and Deal Desk.

What You Bring

• 7+ years of channel sales or partner management experience, with at least 3 years focused on distribution (Arrow, Carahsoft, Ingram, TD SYNNEX, or equivalent).
• Demonstrated track record of driving partner-sourced revenue through distributor-managed reseller ecosystems.
• Demonstrated experience owning or contributing to channel program design: margin structures, rebate models, deal registration frameworks, or reseller tier criteria.
• Deep familiarity with U.S. Public Sector procurement channels, key contract vehicles (GSA Schedule, GWACs, IDIQs), and FED/SLED go-to-market motions.
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder distributor relationships across sales, marketing, and executive functions — including VP/SVP-level engagement.
• Strong command of channel mechanics: deal registration, margin stacking, MDF management, reseller tiering, and co-sell program execution.
• Proficiency in Salesforce CRM for pipeline management, reporting, and partner attribution workflows.
• Excellent executive communication skills — written, verbal, and presentation.

Bonus Points

• Experience with Elastic, Splunk, Datadog, CrowdStrike, or another enterprise infrastructure/security/observability vendor.
• Familiarity with partner program platforms (Impartner, Alliances, Salesforce PRM) and co-sell tools (Tackle/Clazar, WorkSpan).
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing a cloud marketplace transactional strategy through distribution (AWS MP, Azure MP, GCP MP).
• Canada market experience: VAR landscape, provincial SLED procurement, and Canadian distributor relationships.
• Prior experience supporting partner attribution framework rollouts or channel operations transformations.