Director, Ecosystem Operations

This is an incredible opportunity to be part of a company that has been at the forefront of AI and high-performance data storage innovation for over two decades. DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global market leader renowned for powering many of the world's most demanding AI data centers, in industries ranging from life sciences and healthcare to financial services, autonomous cars, Government, academia, research and manufacturing.

"DDN's A3I solutions are transforming the landscape of AI infrastructure." - IDC

"The real differentiator is DDN. I never hesitate to recommend DDN. DDN is the de facto name for AI Storage in high performance environments" - Marc Hamilton, VP, Solutions Architecture & Engineering | NVIDIA

DDN is the global leader in AI and multi-cloud data management at scale. Our cutting-edge data intelligence platform is designed to accelerate AI workloads, enabling organizations to extract maximum value from their data. With a proven track record of performance, reliability, and scalability, DDN empowers businesses to tackle the most challenging AI and data-intensive workloads with confidence.

Our success is driven by our unwavering commitment to innovation, customer-centricity, and a team of passionate professionals who bring their expertise and dedication to every project. This is a chance to make a significant impact at a company that is shaping the future of AI and data management.

Our commitment to innovation, customer success, and market leadership makes this an exciting and rewarding role for a driven professional looking to make a lasting impact in the world of AI and data storage.

We are seeking a Director of Ecosystem to lead and operationalize DDN's ecosystem strategy across VARs, OEMs, GSIs, cloud providers, and strategic technology partners.

This role requires a highly operational and strategic leader who understands how to build scalable partner motions in complex enterprise infrastructure and AI markets. The ideal candidate has experience creating ecosystem strategy, building partner programs, operationalizing cloud marketplace and fulfillment motions, supporting joint offering development, and driving cross-functional execution across technical and business teams.

This is not a relationship-management-only role. We are looking for a builder and operator who can create structure, define processes, establish operational rigor, gather business and technical requirements, and drive execution across Sales, GSS, Product, Engineering, Finance, RevOps, Marketing, and GTM Applications.

The successful candidate must thrive in fast-moving environments where operational clarity, ecosystem scalability, and execution discipline directly impact growth.

What You'll Do

Build & Scale Ecosystem Strategy

Help define and operationalize DDN's ecosystem strategy across VARs, OEMs, GSIs, cloud providers, and strategic technology partners
• Develop scalable engagement models aligned to DDN's AI infrastructure and enterprise GTM strategy
• Support the expansion of co-sell, fulfillment, marketplace, and joint solution motions globally
• Identify strategic partnership opportunities that accelerate revenue growth and customer adoption

Develop & Operationalize Partner Programs

• Build and improve partner programs, engagement frameworks, governance models, and operational workflows
• Create scalable processes for partner onboarding, enablement, deal engagement, escalation management, and operational coordination
• Improve ecosystem operational maturity across reporting, accountability, execution tracking, and partner lifecycle management
• Establish clear operational standards and execution models across ecosystem motions

Cloud Marketplace & Fulfillment Operations

• Support transaction and fulfillment processes across cloud ecosystem partners and marketplaces
• Help operationalize private offer workflows, marketplace motions, quoting alignment, and customer provisioning coordination
• Partner with Finance, Deal Desk, RevOps, Legal, GSS, and Sales teams to improve execution and scalability
• Improve operational visibility into marketplace transactions, partner fulfillment, and ecosystem-influenced revenue

Joint Offerings & NPI Execution

• Partner with Product, Engineering, GSS, and ecosystem partners on joint offerings and NPI (New Product Introduction) initiatives
• Gather operational, technical, support, and GTM requirements for joint solutions
• Coordinate cross-functional execution required to launch and scale partner-integrated offerings
• Help align product readiness, supportability, enablement, and operational execution for ecosystem-driven solutions

Drive Operational Rigor & Cross-Functional Execution

• Create structure, governance, reporting, and accountability across ecosystem initiatives
• Translate ambiguous business requirements into scalable operational processes
• Drive alignment across Sales, RevOps, Product, Marketing, GSS, Finance, Legal, and GTM Applications teams
• Improve visibility into ecosystem contribution, partner influence, co-sell activity, and operational performance
• Build dashboards, KPIs, and reporting frameworks for executive visibility

Support Revenue Growth & Field Alignment

• Partner closely with Sales and field leadership to align ecosystem strategy to target accounts and strategic opportunities
• Improve partner engagement within enterprise sales motions
• Help scale ecosystem-influenced pipeline generation and co-sell execution
• Support strategic deal coordination involving OEMs, cloud providers, GSIs, and channel partners

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in ecosystem, alliances, channel, strategic partnerships, business operations, or GTM leadership roles
• Strong experience working across VARs, OEMs, GSIs, and cloud ecosystem partners
• Experience building ecosystem strategy and operationalizing partner programs
• Experience supporting cloud marketplace, private offer, transaction, and fulfillment workflows
• Experience supporting joint offering development and NPI execution with cross-functional teams
• Strong operational mindset with proven ability to create scalable processes and governance models
• Experience gathering business and technical requirements and driving execution across multiple functions
• Strong executive communication and cross-functional leadership capabilities
• Experience with Salesforce, partner operations, and ecosystem reporting

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in AI infrastructure, enterprise storage, cloud infrastructure, HPC, or enterprise technology environments
• Familiarity with NVIDIA ecosystem motions and AI infrastructure partnerships
• Experience working with marketplace ecosystems such as AWS, OCI, Azure, or GCP
• Experience driving ecosystem analytics, partner attribution, and co-sell reporting
• Experience operating in high-growth or transformation-stage organizations

What Success Looks Like

• Scalable and operationally mature ecosystem programs
• Improved execution across cloud, OEM, GSI, and VAR partner motions
• Faster operationalization of joint offerings and ecosystem initiatives
• Improved co-sell alignment and ecosystem-influenced pipeline generation
• Better visibility into ecosystem performance, contribution, and ROI
• Strong cross-functional alignment and execution discipline
• Efficient marketplace, fulfillment, and transaction workflows
• Increased strategic value delivered through ecosystem partnerships

Salary Range: $190,000 - $260,000

DDN has a very strong orientation towards these 4 characteristics and any successful employee will demonstrate these capabilities:

Self-Starter - Takes independent action to identify and solve problems. Seeks out relevant information needed to make decisions. Gets involved with new initiatives.

Success/Achievement Orientation - Delivers quality results consistently. Targets, achieves (or exceeds) measurable results. Sets challenging goals, focuses on critical priorities, and is accountable.

Problem Solving - Recognizes problems and responds with a systematic assessment that identifies and addresses cause of issue. Practical, realistic, and resourceful.

Innovative - Builds and improves key business processes that enhance the effectiveness of DDN. Generates new ideas, challenges the status quo, and solves problems creatively.

DataDirect Networks, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender, sex stereotyping, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

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