Director, Partner Solution Engineer

• Lead, develop, and inspire a team of Partner Solution Engineers, ensuring professional growth and high performance across multiple partner segments (ISVs, CSPs, SIs, VARs).

• Build and scale the Partner SE organization to support Docker's expanding partner ecosystem and geographic coverage.

• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning focused on partner success and technical excellence.

• Coach, mentor, and empower your team to engage effectively with diverse partner organizations and communicate complex technical concepts clearly.

• Establish repeatable processes and programs for partner technical enablement, including scalable learning paths, certifications, technical deep-dives, and integration workshops.

• Design and deliver both 1:1 strategic enablement for key partners and 1-to-many programs that drive adoption across the broader partner ecosystem.

• Create technical content, integration guides, architectural diagrams, reference architectures, and enablement videos tailored for partners.

• Develop partner-specific technical sales plays, solution validation frameworks, and proof-of-value methodologies that highlight Docker's differentiated value.

• Partner with the Partner Sales organization to drive joint account planning, co-selling opportunities, and "sell-with" and "sell-through" motions.

• Guide partners through solution design, technical validation, and evaluation processes to achieve joint customer success and sales goals.

• Support product positioning and technical validation during joint sales engagements, ensuring clarity on what's GA and ready for delivery.

• Define and track metrics for partner technical readiness, engagement quality, and revenue impact.

• Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to share Voice of the Partner, influencing roadmap priorities and co-building initiatives.

• Guide beta/EAP program participation with strategic partners, gathering feedback on new features and integration requirements.

• Work closely with the Technical Alliances team on roadmap alignment, technical integrations with CSPs and ISVs, and partner-driven feature requests.

• Champion regional partner technical needs and priorities in internal planning discussions (FedGov, EMEA, APAC).

• Collaborate with Field SEs to ensure alignment with market-specific requirements, share learnings, and avoid duplication of effort.

• Partner with Marketing to support partner events, conferences, webinars, and demand generation programs.

• Work with Sales leadership to define partner success metrics, performance standards, and technical excellence measures.

• Represent Docker at partner events and conferences as a technical expert and evangelist.

• Create an environment of continuous improvement focused on partner outcomes, operational excellence, and scalable processes.

• Develop internal enablement programs that enhance partner SE capabilities and share best practices across teams.

• Establish tools, systems, and workflows that enable efficient partner engagement and measurement.

• Build strong feedback loops to iterate on enablement strategies based on data-driven insights and partner performance.

• 8+ years of experience leading technical partner engineering, partner solutions, or pre-sales teams for distributed systems, developer platforms, or cloud infrastructure companies.

• Proven success in guiding teams that support channel partnerships, strategic alliances, and joint go-to-market initiatives.

• Minimum of 5 years in management, including hiring, mentoring, and scaling high-performing partner-facing technical teams.

• Deep understanding of partner ecosystems including ISVs, CSPs (AWS, Azure, GCP), Systems Integrators, and VARs.

• Strong experience in software supply chain security, security governance, DevOps, DevSecOps, or developer productivity technologies.

• Deep technical understanding of containerization, cloud-native architectures, CI/CD pipelines, and developer tools.

• Demonstrated ability to build scalable partner enablement programs (technical learning paths, certifications, workshops).

• Excellent communication and executive presentation skills, with the ability to build trust across technical and business audiences at both partner and customer organizations.

• Strong strategic thinking with proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive complex initiatives.

• Operational experience with Docker, Kubernetes, or similar container-based platforms.

• Experience with application security principles and securing the software supply chain, including SBOMs, image scanning, and secure delivery pipelines.

• Background in software development, scripting, or infrastructure-as-code.

• Experience enabling developer productivity through coding assistants, AI integrations, or AI agent development.

• Familiarity with partner operations tools including Salesforce and enablement platforms like MindTickle.

• Experience working in both direct and channel sales models, understanding the nuances of partner-led vs. partner-assisted sales.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).

• Willingness to travel (~30% expected) to support key partner engagements and events.

• Successfully onboard, gaining familiarity with Docker's platform, partner ecosystem, and partner go-to-market strategy.

• Establish relationships with your team, Partner Sales, Technical Alliances, Field SE leadership, and key cross-functional partners.

• Begin shadowing partner calls, reviewing existing enablement materials, and understanding current partner technical capabilities.

• Learn tooling (Salesforce, Looker, Docker platform, PRM) and connect with internal stakeholders.

• Develop and align a 12-month strategic plan with Partner Sales, Technical Alliances, and Product leadership.

• Begin executing key initiatives focused on improving partner technical readiness, enablement program quality, and joint sales effectiveness.

• Lead enablement sessions for selected strategic partners and support joint-account planning activities.

• Produce initial partner-facing technical content and establish your voice as a technical leader in the partner ecosystem.

• Scale and enable a high-impact Partner Solution Engineering organization that drives measurable partner success and revenue growth through the channel.

• Own the technical strategy for one or more partner segments with documented processes, metrics, and success stories.

• Become a trusted advisor across Partner Sales, Product, Engineering, and Technical Alliances by championing partner insights and technical excellence.

• Demonstrate quantifiable improvements in partner technical closure rates, joint sales velocity, and partner satisfaction scores.

• Build a reputation as a thought leader in the partner ecosystem, representing Docker effectively at partner events and conferences.

Docker is at the forefront of developer productivity and software supply chain security. As Director of Partner Solution Engineering, you'll have the opportunity to:

• Shape the technical strategy for how Docker scales through its partner ecosystem

• Build and lead a world-class team of Partner Solution Engineers

• Work with industry-leading partners including major cloud providers, security vendors, and global system integrators

• Influence product direction based on partner and customer insights

• Make a measurable impact on Docker's growth through the channel

• Collaborate with passionate, talented teams across Sales, Product, Engineering, and Alliances

This is a high-impact leadership role for someone who thrives at the intersection of deep technical expertise, strategic partnership development, and team building. If you're excited about enabling partners to deliver exceptional outcomes for joint customers while building a best-in-class Partner SE organization, we'd love to hear from you.