Remote
SaaS
himalayas
About this role
Canonical is a leading provider of open source software and operating systems to the global enterprise and technology markets. Our platform, Ubuntu, is very widely used in breakthrough enterprise initiatives such as public cloud, data science, AI, engineering innovation and IoT. Our customers include the world's leading public cloud and silicon providers, and industry leaders in many sectors.
The company is a pioneer of global distributed collaboration, with 1200+ colleagues in 75+ countries and very few office based roles. Teams meet two to four times yearly in person, in interesting locations around the world, to align on strategy and execution.The company is founder led, profitable and growing.
We are hiring a Partner Sales Manager to be a key contributing team member within the growing IHV alliances organization. Large OEM or Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV) brands - Dell, HPE, IBM, Lenovo, Ericsson, Cisco, Fujitsu and many more - are major partners for Canonical. These companies build software-defined solutions to capitalize on global open source mandates and associated macro trends.
Canonical’s flagship product, Ubuntu, and its broader open source portfolio are key ingredients for these partners to realize their aspirations.
Canonical represents the best platform for rapid open source innovation.Reporting to the Head of IHV Alliances, the Partner Sales Manager will work closely with IHV and Canonical teams in various geographies to enable IHV teams, generate and transact opportunities, drive a Canonical agenda within an IHV, and achieve targeted results.
They are responsible to build trusted relationships with our partners, increase Canonical market share and attach rate, evangelize the partnership and drive business interactions from across persona - from engineer to CxO.
They will often run customer workshops focused on particular initiatives at that customer, attend sales events, give public presentations and participate in executive engagements.Location:
Selling Motion
Sales Cycle
Enterprise
6–18 month cycles, complex multi-stakeholder deals
Prospecting
Channel / Partner
Sell through partners, resellers, or alliances
Buyer Persona
C-Suite
Selling to executive decision-makers
Territory
Vertical-Specific
Focused on a single industry vertical
Requirements at a Glance
Typical Day — Sales Manager
Estimates based on role type and selling motion — actual may vary by company.
SaaS — Interview Intel
Typical Sales Cycle
30–90 days (SMB) · 3–9 months (Mid-Market) · 6–18 months (Enterprise)
Common Buyer Objections
- "We're locked into a contract with [competitor]"
- "We built something in-house already"
- "We don't have budget until next quarter"
- "Our team won't adopt another tool"
Key Industry Metrics
Hot Topics to Reference
- • AI-native product disruption
- • PLG vs sales-led motion debate
- • Vertical SaaS consolidation
- • Usage-based pricing models
Use these insights to speak the buyer's language in interviews.
Tags
How do you coach underperforming reps?
Template questionDescribe your forecasting methodology.
Template questionHow do you structure onboarding for new hires?
Template questionSales leadership roles require balancing individual contributor revenue with team performance management.
Expect to work with recurring revenue models where customer retention is as important as acquisition.
Remote positions in sales offer flexibility but require strong self-discipline and proactive communication with distributed teams.
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