Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive.
At Xero, our purpose is to make life better for people in small business, their advisors, and communities around the world. This purpose sits at the centre of everything we do. We support our people to do the best work of their lives so that they can help small businesses succeed through better tools, information and connections. Because when they succeed they make a difference, and when millions of small businesses are making a difference, the world is a more beautiful place.
How you'll make an impact
Xero's incredible growth to date would not have been possible without the support of our most important partner relationships - Accountants and Bookkeepers. Since beginning life 15 years ago, our primary path to market has been through our partnership channel which has driven over 70% of historical sales. Over recent years Xero has grown at an incredible pace... and we're not slowing down! As we face into the next phase of our journey, it's critical that we create systems, tools and processes that help us to scale in all countries in a sustainable, energising way.
Partner Services is a core strategic function that supports and delivers services and experiences that are critical to our Accounting & Bookkeeping Partners Journey. This function encompasses Partner Consulting (pre & post-sales), Partner Success Managers, Conversions & Migrations, Partner Training, Partner Enablement and Activations.
A senior global role, the GM Partner Services and Experience will lead a team responsible for the overarching strategy and operating model that manages the global and regional requirements and priorities for Global Partner Services. This role works closely with the Partner Services regional leaders, as well as across functions with global and regional Sales, Customer Success, Product and GTM teams. This role will develop and lead the strategic plan that will underpin the set up, delivery and optimisation of partner services operating models and capabilities.
This role requires exceptional leadership, bold & brave moves and passion to create a step change in the growth for our partners. We believe there is an untapped potential to find more commonality in the way we do things, while having deep appreciation for the nuances that make our markets unique.
Collaboration will be key with a range of stakeholders across functions and regions, along with the positive power of working with and through others and enabling them to reach their full potential. This role will be a valued member of the Global Sales Leadership Team, working in the Customer organisation.
What you'll do
• Develop, lead, and iterate on a clear strategic plan that will underpin the establishment, delivery and optimisation of partner services operating models and capabilities globally
• Provide strong global leadership to Xero's Partner Consulting community, bringing together teams around the world to ensure best practice and operational excellence
• Active generation and understanding of customer insights from our partner research
• Drive global leadership, coordination and sponsorship of our regional XPACs (Xero Partner Advisory Committee) - and the formation of a global XPAC community.
• Collaborate with regional partner directors/leadership teams, marketing and sales leaders to ensure effective delivery of Partner Service across all regions.
• Collaborate with Finance, Revenue Operations and Strategy areas to ensure we're all connected and working as one team
• Actively collaborate with global Marketing teams for the design, delivery and execution of Partner Marketing content and educational events
• Develop and evolve relationships with regional product leadership to ensure we understand how product strategy links to regional objectives
• Ensure there is a strong conduit of insights, information and data flowing between Customer (especially field based Sales/Partner Consultants) and Product via the Product Liaison function
• Champion ways for us to build the world's best partner experiences and business
• Leverage best practice and execute on a playbook to nurture the relationship between partner consulting and the sales team
• Build and execute a clearly defined partner consulting playbook for regional execution
• Responsible for overall leadership and development of the team including the ongoing performance management, professional development and career progression of the team.
What you'll bring with you
• Experience in the accounting and/or book keeper industry
• Extensive program and stakeholder management
• Demonstrated success in past roles helping teams develop, priorities and execute choices that led to winning in their chosen domain
• Strong market knowledge in current practice and SME software competitor platforms
• Extensive experience participating in high functioning collaborative teams working in fast-paced environments
• Understanding of the SaaS and/or accounting
• Leadership skills and experience working in a complex sales environment
• A passion for and, ideally, a deep knowledge of the accounting and/or book keeping sector
• A strategic outlook with the ability to identify winning positions in competitive markets
• Strong financial & commercial acumen
• Strong collaboration capabilities across internal teams both locally and globally
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills
• Attention to detail and follow-up
• An optimist with an opportunity-seeking instinct
• A courageous and tenacious decision-maker - able to be decisive and balanced where there is ambiguity and conflicting information
About Xero?
Diversity of people brings diversity of thought, and we like that. A collaborative and inclusive environment is important to us. Working at Xero will provide you with a diverse and inclusive environment alongside people who will respect, challenge and support you to have fun while you do the best work of your life. We are a place where personal development, innovation, and well-being are not just inspired but celebrated.
We value our people and offer a wide range of compelling benefits and perks, including Xero shares. Xero's collaborative culture is underscored by our values - #Ownership, #Challenge, #Beautiful, #Human and #Team - which empower us to understand and serve customers, attract top talent and continuously innovate. From the moment you step through our doors, you'll feel welcome and supported to do the best work of your life.