Strategic Partnerships Manager (f/m/d)

Hi, this is team UMH.

Who we are. 8 years ago, we were frustrated with the state of data infrastructure in manufacturing. Companies paid millions per year for outdated software from the 90s. They still do. There is much better technology out there, built on open source, and we’ve spent the last 8 years building it.

What we build. We build a data platform for manufacturing. It connects machines across all major industrial protocols, models data to industry standards like ISA-95, and feeds it into systems where users can build applications and automations on top. The whole thing is open source, which matters for partners. A partner can evaluate UMH, build a demo for a customer, and make a recommendation before any commercial agreement with us exists. They can prove value before a contract is signed. That changes the onboarding conversation.

Where we are. We’ve gone from a GitHub project to an enterprise platform trusted by Böllhoff, Hipp, and Edeka. The incumbents in industrial data management are slow. We’re not.

The partner opportunity. System integrators are finding us through the community. OEMs are reaching out. The partners who are already on-site at manufacturers, running OT projects, integrating ERP, maintaining SCADA, are the ones who spot a UMH-shaped problem and make a warm introduction. We’re not capitalising on that at all.

This role. You build the partner program from zero, but go deep enough on each partner that it looks like an alliance, not a contact list. You recruit and activate a focused set of high-potential partners, invest in each relationship with the rigour of a joint business plan, and simultaneously think about the bigger picture: which partners complement each other, which segments are uncovered, and how the open-source community connects to the commercial side.

You’ll love this if you want to:

• Build the relationships that create inbound pull. The best partners refer deals without being asked, because they trust you, understand the product, and know how to pitch it. Getting there takes consistent relationship work, real investment in the partner’s success, and the patience to build before you harvest. You’re energised by that kind of long-game work.
• Enable partners to spot and introduce, not just to know you exist. A partner who can walk a shop floor, recognise a problem we solve, and make the introduction: that’s your output. You build the enablement that gets them there. Opportunity spotting frameworks, ICP education, warm introduction mechanics, reference material that makes the conversation easy.
• Design the commercial model, not just run it. What do partners earn for a warm introduction when they can’t bill implementation hours? How do you structure referral economics that actually change partner behaviour? How do you build attribution mechanics your own sales team trusts? These are unsolved problems. You solve them.
• Build the program with the precision of someone who has done it before. You know what to build in month one and what to defer. You know which parts of a partner program create real leverage and which are theatre. You bring a tested methodology and apply it with discipline, not enthusiasm.
• Run partner relationships like a pipeline. You have a framework for partner health that goes beyond “are we talking.” Activation rates, deal registration cadence, pipeline contribution, QBR outcomes. You track all of it. Within 90 days of signing a partner you know whether they’ll contribute. You make the call on where to invest more and where to disengage, and you back it with data.
• Put UMH in rooms we wouldn’t otherwise be in. The partners in your network are already inside manufacturing companies. They see problems before a budget exists and before a vendor has been invited. When they spot something we can solve, they should think of us first and know how to make the introduction.
• Make sales easy. You’re successful when an AE picks up a warm introduction from a partner and closes it faster than they would have cold. Getting AEs to trust, prioritise, and work within the partner motion, especially at a company where direct sales is the default, is one of the hardest parts of this role. You know how to build that trust without authority.
• Lay the foundation for what comes next. Today’s motion is referral-based. The next phase is delivery partners who implement UMH independently at scale. You’re building toward that from day one: identifying which partners have the technical depth to get there, running early enablement, designing a program that grows with us.

You might be a fit if you have:

• 4-7 years in strategic alliance management, partner development, or business development in B2B software or industrial technology, with a BD or early-stage partner background.
• You have personally built partner programs and strategic relationships from scratch. Not inherited them, not supported them. Built them. The relationship depth to earn genuine trust with partner principals and directors.
• You’ve built partnerships where the other side proactively brings you into their pipeline, because you’ve invested in the relationship and made them successful, not because of a contractual obligation.
• The enablement instinct to turn partner interest into partner capability. You’ve built the opportunity-spotting frameworks, ICP education, and warm introduction mechanics that take a partner from curious to consistently referring. You can build this without a dedicated enablement team behind you.
• The commercial design experience to build a referral program from zero. You’ve structured partner incentives before: fee models, attribution rules, tier economics. You know what makes a program compelling versus what looks good on paper but doesn’t change behaviour.
• Operational rigour that matches your relationship skills. You track partner health the way a sales manager tracks pipeline. You’ve built the metrics infrastructure, not just reported into it, and you’ve made investment and disengagement decisions based on what the data showed.
• The internal credibility to align a direct sales team around a partner motion. You understand the tension between channel and direct. You’ve navigated it. You know how to build trust with AEs who are sceptical of the channel and turn them into advocates.
• A working knowledge of OT/IT or industrial automation. You don’t need to be an engineer, but you need to hold a conversation about SCADA, MES, OPC UA, or Unified Namespace without going blank. Experience in manufacturing, logistics, or industrial software is a strong plus.
• Fluency in German and English. Most partners in DACH will do business in German. English is the internal language at UMH. Both matter.

Also a good sign:

• You’ve worked with or at a manufacturer, automation vendor, or industrial software company.
• You have existing relationships with DACH-based partners in the industrial or manufacturing space.
• You’ve built or managed a referral or influence partner program, not just a resale channel.
• You’ve been part of an open-source GTM motion or a community-led growth strategy.
• You’ve worked at a company with fewer than 50 people and thrived in it.

This probably isn’t for you if:

• You build great relationships but never connect them to enablement outcomes or pipeline contribution. The relationship becomes social, not commercial.
• You design beautiful program frameworks that nobody ends up using.
• You confuse a full calendar with a productive partner motion.
• You want a channel program that’s already built and just needs managing.
• You prefer a big-company structure where each function has clear lanes and you stay in yours.
• You’re more comfortable owning a sales target than owning a program.

No degree requirement. No rigid year threshold. We care more about how you think than whether you check every box. If your application makes us think “this person gets it,” that matters more than a perfect resume.

What year 1 looks like:

You’re not handed a playbook. In your first year, you recruit and activate the first 5-10 strategic partners, define the commercial model, and generate the first qualified introductions that sales can close. You’ll know you’re on track when partners are proactively bringing you into conversations, not because they’re contractually obligated to, but because they trust you and know how to make the introduction count.

• Salary: Competitive base depending on experience, plus bonus tied to partner-sourced ARR, plus VSOP. We’ll explain the details in our first conversations.
• Role trajectory: You’re our first dedicated partner hire. You own the function end to end. Today that means building a referral network with a select group of strategic partners. Over time it means building a delivery partner program at scale. If it works, you’re building a team around it. This is a future Head of Partnerships role.
• Office: We work mostly from our office in central Cologne. This role requires being close to sales cycles, customer conversations, and the bits that only happen in person. Home office is possible for focused work. This is not a remote position.
• Reporting: You report directly to the CCO.
• Learning curve: Expect steep growth. Industrial protocols. How open-source enterprise companies actually scale through partners. Factory operations. You’ll learn more in 6 months here than in 2 years at a bigger company.
• Virtual company shares: We’re building a generational company, and those who join us on that multi-year, all-in journey should share in the upside. Through our VSOP program, you participate directly in the value you help create.
• Benefits: 30 days vacation, a thoughtfully designed office in central Cologne, free drinks and snacks, a healthy and ergonomic work environment, and access to Urban Sports Club / EGYM Wellpass, Uber Eats and Uber Home when working late.