Strategic Partner Manager

Strategic Partner Manager

The Strategic Partner Manager is a senior-level individual contributor responsible for managing and optimizing operational performance across Proofpoint's third-party Technical Customer Support vendor partners. This role ensures that vendor activities are aligned with business priorities, drives operational improvements, and amplifies the effectiveness of our global support ecosystem.

Vendor Strategy & Relationship Management

Partner closely with vendor leadership to ensure alignment with Proofpoint's goals, support strategy, and customer experience standards.

Serve as a strategic liaison between internal teams and vendor partners to drive transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Monitor contract adherence and identify opportunities to optimize vendor services.

Operational Excellence

Evaluate vendor performance across KPIs, SLAs, quality metrics, and productivity benchmarks.

Identify operational gaps, propose structured improvement plans, and track progress through completion.

Support readiness for product changes, workflow modifications, and major program rollouts.

Cross-Functional Partnership

Collaborate with Engineering, Product, Customer Success, Support Operations, and internal Support teams to ensure vendor alignment with business needs.

Represent the vendor organization in cross-functional meetings, project discussions, and operational reviews.

Communicate vendor impact, risks, and opportunities clearly to senior leadership.

Program & Process Leadership

Lead vendor-related initiatives and process improvement programs—driving structure, documentation, and execution.

Maintain operational playbooks, escalation guides, SOPs, and readiness materials.

Partner with training and quality teams to ensure consistent vendor skill development.

Data Analysis & Reporting

Analyze vendor data to identify performance trends, root causes, capacity issues, and customer-impacting concerns.

Build dashboards, scorecards, and executive-level summaries to highlight insights and drive decision-making.

Provide recommendations based on data—focusing on efficiency, quality, and customer experience.

Escalation and Issue Management

Support vendor escalations, incident management, and service disruptions.

Partner with stakeholders to drive cross-functional resolution and long-term corrective action.

Track recurring issues and propose systemic solutions.

Strategic Support

Support the Director in defining vendor strategy, long-term operational planning, and organizational alignment.

Assess vendor capabilities and recommend changes to staffing models, resourcing, or support coverage

What you bring to the team

10+ years of experience in Technical Support, Vendor Management, Customer Support Operations, or related fields.

Strong background in global support environments or outsourced/BPO operations.

Demonstrated ability to influence without authority across multiple teams and stakeholders.

Advanced analytical skills with experience in metrics, dashboards, and performance reporting.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to tailor messaging for executive audiences.

Experience managing complex projects or programs with cross-functional collaboration.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office; experience with Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.

Experience in SaaS, cybersecurity, or technical support environments.

Familiarity with workforce planning, vendor capacity modeling, or support forecasting.

Background in business process optimization or operational strategy.

Why Proofpoint

Protecting people is at the heart of our award-winning lineup of cybersecurity solutions, and the people who work here are the key to our success. We're a customer-focused and driven-to-win organization with leading-edge products—and many exciting reasons to join our team. We believe in hiring the best the brightest and cultivating a culture of collaboration and appreciation. We are a diverse, multinational company with opportunities in all functions, and leaders that welcome candidates from all walks of life. Apply today and explore your future #LifeAtProofpoint.