Senior Partner Account Manager - Public Sector Distribution

Job Description

Job Description

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.

Appian is seeking a Senior Partner Account Manager – Public Sector Distribution to support our U.S. Public Sector business. This strategic, partner-facing role will be responsible for driving alignment, engagement, and growth across Appian's relationship with a named distribution account and its downstream public sector reseller ecosystem.

This role serves as a strategic partner-facing lead across sales, marketing, renewals, partner enablement, and executive leadership to drive the overall distribution engagement strategy. The ideal candidate is an experienced channel professional who can influence without authority, operate in ambiguity, and accelerate public sector pipeline through the assigned distributor and partner network across Federal, SLED, and major licensing motions.

This role is based at our ​headquarters in ​McLean, Virginia. Appian was built on a culture of in-person collaboration, which we believe is a key driver of our mission to be the best. Employees hired for this position are expected to be in the office 5 days a week to foster that culture and ensure we continue to thrive through shared ideas and teamwork. We believe being in the office provides more opportunities to come together and celebrate working with the exceptional people across Appian.

In this role, you will:

• Help develop, refine, and execute the overall engagement strategy for the assigned distribution partner across U.S. Public Sector routes to market.

• Coordinate internal stakeholders across sales, marketing, renewals, and leadership to ensure aligned priorities, clear ownership, and consistent execution.

• Support executive-level engagement with the assigned distribution partner, including preparation for business reviews, escalations, and strategic planning discussions.

• Act as a central point of coordination for distributor-related growth motions, helping translate strategy into actionable plans.

• Advise and influence sourced pipeline creation through the distribution partner and downstream reseller partner ecosystem.

• Partner with internal sales leadership and distribution partner stakeholders to identify growth opportunities, remove friction, and improve execution against pipeline goals.

• Review pipeline trends, inspect opportunity progression, and provide reporting and recommendations to internal leaders.

• Participate in forecasting discussions related to distributor-influenced business and public sector growth motions.

• Collaborate with internal marketing and assigned distribution partner teams to support campaign planning, MDF utilization, and program execution.

• Ensure campaigns align to growth priorities, target audiences, and partner activation objectives.

• Track execution progress and follow through on agreed joint initiatives.

• Support review and coordination of deal registration processes to improve quality, velocity, and internal visibility.

• Identify process breakdowns and recommend improvements that improve partner experience and internal responsiveness.

• Support distributor-led downstream reseller enablement activities as a backstop, internal resource, and escalation point.

• Maintain an ongoing view of overall relationship health, including operating rhythm, follow-through, issue resolution, and executive alignment.

• Drive cadence and readiness for executive business reviews, including action tracking and cross-functional accountability.

• Escalate issues appropriately and help resolve complex challenges involving sales, partner engagement, or execution gaps.

• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders at Appian and the assigned distributor.

 

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Sourced pipeline generated through the assigned distribution partner and downstream reseller partners.

• Campaign execution effectiveness and MDF/program utilization.

• Deal registration quality, responsiveness, and cycle velocity.

• Executive business review cadence, preparation quality, and action follow-through.

• Overall health and effectiveness of the assigned distributor partner relationship.

• Cross-functional alignment and execution consistency across sales, marketing, renewals, and partner motions.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of demonstrated experience in the technology sector, with meaningful engagement in public sector markets.

• 5+ years of experience working for a technology distributor or OEM/channel organization with a distributor as an assigned account.

• Demonstrated fluency in public sector procurement environments and routes to market.

• Proven ability to operate effectively without direct authority and drive outcomes through influence.

• Executive presence and credibility with senior sales leaders, partner leaders, and distributor stakeholders.

• Strong program management, coordination, and follow-through capabilities.

• Experience working across complex licensing and commercial models, including cloud, SaaS, and perpetual software motions.

• Strong communication, relationship management, and organizational skills.

• Ability to succeed in ambiguous, evolving, startup-like operating environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with MDF planning, joint campaign execution, or partner marketing programs.

• Experience supporting renewals, subscription lifecycle motions, or recurring revenue models.

• Familiarity with deal registration workflows, partner enablement practices, and distributor operating models in public sector technology.

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The base salary range per provided represents a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's relevant work experience, qualifications, internal peer equity, and market and business conditions that exist when extending an offer. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. 

In addition, Appian provides generous benefits offerings that include a 401(k) plan with company match, flexible time off, paid parental leave, medical, dental, and vision plans, life insurance, disability insurance, wellness programs, flexible spending accounts, health savings account contributions, an employee referral bonus program, and learning and development resources. Certain positions may be eligible for equity awards. 

Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation, commission, bonus, or benefit plans.

Base Salary Range

$125,000—$250,000 USD

Tools and Resources 

• Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires. 
• Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
• Community: We'll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.

Benefits

Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more. Benefits vary by country—please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

About Appian

Appian provides AI automation for mission-critical work. We automate complex processes in large enterprises and governments. Our platform is known for its unique reliability and scale. We've been automating processes for more than 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com. [Nasdaq: APPN]

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Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at View email address on us.fitly.work. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

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