VP, Channel & Partnerships

VP, Channel & Partnerships
Application Deadline:

25 June 2026

Department:

Sales

Employment Type:

Full Time

Location:

Boston, MA

Reporting To:

Mike D'Aloia

Compensation:

$300,000 - $350,000 / year

Description
Zappi is a consumer insights platform that helps the world’s leading brands make better creative and innovation decisions. Our platform gives enterprise teams access to decision‑grade consumer insight — through ad testing, concept testing, and audience understanding — at the speed modern marketing demands. Backed by Sumeru Equity Partners, we work with some of the world’s largest consumer brands.

Opportunity
Consumer insight has always lived outside the creative process — a separate step, a separate tool, a separate team. We are changing that: embedding decision‑grade insight directly into the platforms where briefs are written, assets are made, and creative decisions happen. This is a genuinely new commercial model, a new way of delivering value, and a new way of working that the research industry has not seen before.

The person who builds this channel will shape how some of the world’s biggest brands access consumer intelligence for years to come. You will own it end‑to‑end — from identifying the right partners and generating your own pipeline, through developing the right value proposition for each platform category, to negotiating commercial terms and ensuring each partnership drives real revenue. There is no inherited playbook. This is a build role.

Core Objectives

Drive Embedded Revenue Growth

– Develop strategic partnerships that integrate Zappi’s capabilities into partner and customer workflows, creating scalable recurring revenue opportunities that do not depend on direct sales headcount.

Expand Commercial Partnerships

– Identify and secure partnerships with platforms, technology providers, agencies, consultancies, and media and data ecosystems that accelerate growth and open new distribution channels.

Build Repeatable Partnership Motions

– Create the frameworks, commercial models, and go‑to‑market processes that turn individual deals into a scalable, repeatable channel — so the channel can grow without growing headcount proportionally.

Develop Data and Insight Partnerships

– Identify strategic data and insight partnerships that increase the value, reach, and commercial application of Zappi’s data assets.

Establish Zappi’s Ecosystem Presence

– Make Zappi a recognised embedded insights partner within the broader marketing, innovation, media, and consumer intelligence ecosystems.

Key Responsibilities

Build and execute Zappi’s global channel and partnership strategy, aligned to company growth objectives

Generate your own pipeline through outbound prospecting — identify, prioritise, and get in front of the right partners without relying on inbound or CEO‑led introductions

Represent Zappi credibly at senior levels — CTO, CPO, Chief AI Officer — in initial conversations and through to commercial close

Develop a compelling, honest value proposition for each partner category, grounded in their specific workflow and user base rather than a generic re‑pitch of the same deck

Work within the guardrails of what the product can actually deliver; push back internally when a proposed integration does not make commercial sense

Build partnership business cases, commercial models, and joint GTM strategies with clear revenue accountability

Lead commercial negotiations — revenue share, API terms, integration commitments — with support from Legal and Finance

Partner closely with Product and Product Marketing to identify integration opportunities and ensure what gets promised can be delivered

Own the commercial relationship post‑signature: track embedded revenue, usage adoption, and partner success metrics

Feed partner learnings back into product, strategy, and GTM to inform how the channel evolves

What Success Looks Like

Growth in embedded and partnership‑driven recurring revenue

Number and quality of strategic partnerships established and in active commercial motion

Partner‑sourced and partner‑influenced pipeline and bookings

Expansion of Zappi integrations and embedded workflow adoption across enterprise customers

Development of repeatable partnership frameworks that scale beyond this hire

What We’re Looking For
Platform Ecosystem Fluency
You understand how partner programmes work from the inside — whether because you ran one, sold through one, or built on top of one. You know how platforms evaluate integration partners, what they need to see commercially and technically before they commit, and how to navigate the gap between a product team that likes your idea and a business team that needs to justify the deal.

Outbound Instinct
You have a track record of building pipeline from scratch. You know how to get a meeting with someone who did not ask for one and how to turn that conversation into a real opportunity. This role does not suit someone who waits for the phone to ring.

Value Proposition Adaptability
You can read a partner’s workflow, understand what their users actually do and when, and figure out where Zappi genuinely creates value versus where it is a stretch. You are good at shaping a proposition that is both compelling and honest. You do not oversell to close, and you do not need a fully pre‑packaged pitch to walk into a meeting.

Commercial Judgment
You can structure and negotiate complex, multi‑stakeholder partnership agreements and you have done it before. You know the difference between a deal that looks good on paper and one that actually works in practice.

Domain Credibility
You can hold a substantive conversation with a senior technical or product leader at a martech, creative tech, data, or enterprise software company. You do not need to be an engineer, but you need to be someone those people want to talk to.

Experience & Background

10+ years in partnerships, business development, alliances, or channel leadership within SaaS, market research, insights, data, martech, or ad tech

Proven track record building and scaling strategic partnerships that drive measurable revenue growth — not just deal volume

Experience operating within or alongside large platform ecosystems (Adobe, Salesforce, Google, Microsoft‑scale) as a partner, ISV, or from inside a partner programme.

Demonstrated ability to build a pipeline from scratch, not inherit an existing book of business

Experience closing complex commercial agreements and owning the relationship through to revenue generation

Ability to adapt a value proposition across different partner categories — not just executing a fixed playbook

Entrepreneurial mindset: comfortable building structure and process in a function that does not yet have either

Benefits

Up to $250K base + $100K variable commission per annum. Salaries are benchmarked annually

One company‑paid mental health day of rest every quarter (these are pre‑scheduled, so the entire company can take the same days off regularly to reset)

Generous PTO – Minimum of 20 days of paid time off per year, plus national holidays. Leave over 30 days requires manager and People team approval.

Flexible working arrangements, including remote (unless otherwise specified)

Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration without interrupting others

Support setting up your home office, if appropriate

Wellbeing benefits and access to trained therapists / counsellors

Company‑paid Life, AD&D, Short‑term & Long‑term disability

Immediate access to Zappi's Health, Dental and Vision Insurance Plan

Option to enter Zappi's 401k program after 90 days of employment, matched up to 4%

Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks

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