Gm Partnerships

**Our Purpose**

At Xero, we’re here to help you supercharge your business. We do this by automating routine tasks, surfacing actionable insights and connecting businesses with the right data, advisors and apps. When that happens, we’re not only making life better for small business, we’ll be building a stronger economy that can change the world.

**How you’ll make an impact**

As the GM Partnerships - Australia and New Zealand, you will work across Xero’s product divisions to enable new product offerings and grow existing ones through building new partnerships and managing strategic relationships. This includes partnerships with financial services companies for our Accounting, Payments and other related products; technology companies across industries for our Ecosystem & App Store; partnerships to enable products in other divisions such as Payroll, Tax, and eCommerce. Additionally, you will help develop partnerships as a channel for Xero distribution with leading technology platforms, financial services partners and referral platforms. You will lead a team of six, across Australia and New Zealand, and collaborate closely with global product and regional go-to-market executives. Partnering with your team, and continually investing in their development is a key part of this role.

**What you’ll do**

**People and Team Leadership**: Lead a team of regional Partnership Directors and Managers. Provide team leadership, shaping the team vision, culture, and ways of working. Foster an environment for people to continually experiment and learn. Work with your team members to help with their growth via ongoing coaching and feedback, and career planning. As needed, recruit new Xero's, ensuring team members are high quality, contribute to Xero's culture, and are on-boarded effectively.

**Strategy Development**: Work closely with regional and global Product leaders to provide input into product and GTM strategy, and align on needed partnerships to launch new products or grow existing ones, and build new distribution partnerships for Xero.

**Strategic Partnerships**: Build executive relationships with key strategic partners to build our relationship, identify new partnership opportunities and help your team execute key deals.

**Partnerships Evangelism**: Represent and champion the partnerships agenda within AUNZ as part of the regional leadership team. Provide a global mindset to the team and stakeholders, championing Partnerships as a strategic function to deliver Xero’s goals across regions. As needed, represent Xero at key internal & external events, and media opportunities.

**Operational Excellence**: Ensure your team delivers against strategic and financial objectives. Continually find ways to improve your team’s effectiveness through evolving key operational processes. Manage team compliance with Xero policies, processes and requirements.

**What you'll bring with you**

**Critical competencies**
- Ownership and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to think broadly at a strategic level while ensuring partnership strategies that align with Xero product investments.
- Building effective relationships across all levels of the business, and with critical Partners.
- Strong executive influence, both internally and externally.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strategic mindset, including business/product strategy, an ability to assess the commercial viability of deals and the products they help enable, and to help with build/buy/partner evaluation.
- Expertise with commercial and contract negotiations, particularly helping teams develop these capabilities.

**Experience**
- 15+ years of experience with business and product partnerships.
- Proven leadership experience in technology businesses at an executive level.
- Broad knowledge of technology and software development, experience in the B2B software industry.
- Experience in the accounting industry is a benefit but not required.
- A solid track record of addressing customer needs through innovative partnerships.
- Significant people leadership experience, with the ability to successfully motivate individuals and teams and develop individuals capabilities.
- Experience leading global teams would be advantageous.

**Success looks like**:
- Expertly manages team resources across current and prospective partners and projects, focusing on long-term strategic opportunities, even while handling the day-to-day issues.
- You have a strong voice into product roadmaps based on your understanding of regional trends and opportunities.
- You collaborate closely with leaders across the company to align on priorities.
- You and your team develop and execute on key partnerships that deliver impact for our customers, help our partners to grow and with favorable economics to Xero in order to deliver on key regional and company OKRs.
- You personally help develop innovative new partnerships with top companies to create new opportunities for X