Partner Program Specialist

Who We Are 

Burwood Group is not your average technology consulting firm. We are an innovative, culture-driven industry leader, that helps companies use and manage technology to transform business and improve outcomes. Founded in 1997, headquartered in Chicago, we've grown to be a 200+ employee firm with team members and offices spread from Southern California to North Carolina. 

Burwood fosters a culture that applauds both teamwork and personal growth. We’ve cultivated an incredible team of people who are dedicated to their craft and passionate about using their skills to impact the success of the company. Join our team and build a career as unique as you are. 

What You'll Do

The Partner Program Specialist plays a vital role on our Partner Alliance team, serving as the subject matter expert for our strategic partnerships with industry leaders like Cisco, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, and Google Cloud. This position is responsible for the expert execution of all operational, financial, and compliance-related activities that ensure the health of our partner ecosystem. Moving beyond traditional administration, this role also focuses on process innovation, data analysis, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure our partner programs drive profitable growth and are tightly aligned with our go-to-market strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Management & Compliance:

• Manage the complete operational lifecycle of our strategic partnerships, analyzing program requirements to ensure all compliance, certification, and specialization mandates are met in a timely manner. Ability to articulate why this is strategic and articulate the ROI and/or benefits from the investment of time, cost, and resources.
• Oversee all partner portal administration and support the seamless operational onboarding of new partners into our ecosystem.
• Act as a key support resource for Partner Relations Managers, assisting with ad hoc requests for technical documentation, sales enablement materials, and other resources needed to build partner relationships and accelerate the adoption of new solutions.

Financial Incentive Management:

• Oversee the end-to-end financial incentive process and claim submission to collecting proof-of-performance and reconciling all rebate, MDF, and co-op payments with the Finance department.

Sales Go-to-Market & Marketing Collaboration:

• Administer our presence on key partner portals, ensuring our company profile is optimized and reflects our latest capabilities.
• Advise the marketing team on partner-specific rules for co-op/MDF funds to ensure all campaign activities are compliant and eligible for reimbursement.
• Collaborate with the marketing team to ensure all sales collateral and the company website accurately reflect our latest partner statuses, awards, and joint solution offerings.
• Inform on partner evolving and updated branding guidelines, advising the marketing team on content compliance to ensure all materials meet contractual requirements.

Analytics, Reporting, & Process Improvement:

• Enhance and maintain a suite of performance dashboards to provide actionable insights for executive QBRs, joint business reviews, and sales account planning.
• Analyze the financial ROI of partner programs and incentive campaigns to provide leadership with data-backed recommendations on where to invest for maximum impact.
• Proactively identify operational inefficiencies and champion process improvements through automation, new tools, and streamlined workflows.

Who You Are 

Required:

• 1-3 years of experience in a role such as partner operations, sales operations, marketing operations, or program coordination, preferably within the IT industry.

• Exceptional organizational skills and a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• A strong analytical mindset with a natural curiosity for interpreting data, identifying trends, and improving processes.
• Demonstrated ability to think critically and solve problems.
• High emotional intelligence and excellent communication skills for collaborating across various departments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel; experience with data visualization tools (like Power BI) is a plus.

Preferred:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field.

• Direct experience working with the partner programs and portals of vendors such as Cisco, Microsoft, HPE, Palo Alto Networks, or AWS.
• Experience using a CRM system (Microsoft Dynamics preferred) for reporting and data management.
• A foundational understanding of IT channel business models (rebates, deal registration, GTM strategy).
• A keen interest in emerging technologies and their application to business processes.

Why Join Our Team:

• Impact from Day One: This is not just a task-based role. You will own critical processes and be empowered to provide insights that directly influence our partner strategy and profitability.

• Growth and Development: We are committed to your professional growth. You will gain invaluable experience in operations, finance, marketing, and analytics within a dynamic technology ecosystem.
• A Culture of Innovation: Be part of a forward-thinking team that is actively looking to automate, innovate, and build a world-class partner program. Your ideas will be heard and valued.

The Compensation packages at Burwood Group are based on various factors unique to each candidate, including work location, skillset, experience, qualifications, market conditions, and other job-related reasons. The estimated salary range for this role is $55,000-$65,000. This role may also be eligible for incentive compensation based on individual and/or company performance. Sales roles have an additional opportunity to earn substantial variable compensation tied to quota achievement.

If you ask any of our employees here at Burwood “what we love”, the top answer is always the same: our culture.  Our employees are driven, innovative, fun-loving, and always willing to help. In addition to that, Burwood also offers some fantastic benefits:

• 401(k) and Roth 401(k) savings plan, complete with a company match
• Generous vacation policy
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and accident insurance
• Short- and Long-Term Disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for pre-tax healthcare and transit/parking expenses
• Access to financial planning expertise
• Mental wellness programs
• Learning opportunities in support of career development

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are not intent on being the largest company; but rather, the best. These are the words we live by. This means we welcome all the best talent - regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and age. 

Being open to all cultural backgrounds, life experiences, thoughts, and ideas not only strengthens company culture, but also encourages different-in-kind thinking and promotes economic success.