Senior Channel Partner Manager - DACH

Messy spend management is tricky business. And tedious processes are a lose-lose situation for all involved, not just finance. At Pleo, we're changing that. We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike—with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’. The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years. Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success. We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high. With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out. And frankly, that’s half the fun! What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together. About the role We’re looking for a Senior Channel Partner Manager, DACH to join our growing partnerships team. This is a highly commercial, hands-on role where you will own the strategy and execution of our partner channel in the region. You will take an existing network of partners and help us scale it in a strategic, structured way, while also bringing your entrepreneurial mindset to create new partnerships. You will be expected to drive revenue directly through partners, while building long-term, high-value relationships. This role gives you the freedom to define your own approach and make a visible impact. The role reports directly to the Regional Manager and offers the opportunity to shape the DACH channel strategy from the ground up. Who you’ll be working with and reporting to You will collaborate with senior leadership and teams across Sales, Partner Marketing, and Product. Our team is fast-moving, highly collaborative, and focused on driving measurable commercial impact. You will have the freedom to define your approach, supported by colleagues who share insights and best practices across markets. What you’ll be doing As Senior Channel Partner Manager, DACH, you will: Own the end-to-end partner channel strategy for the DACH region, including planning, execution, and measurement Build and manage relationships with existing partners, identifying opportunities to increase revenue and scale collaboration Identify and engage new channel partners across fintech, accounting, consulting, and technology ecosystems Develop joint propositions, co-marketing campaigns, and go-to-market plans with partners Work closely with Sales, Marketing, and Product teams to ensure partnerships deliver measurable pipeline and revenue Use data and insights to optimise partner performance and build a scalable channel model Represent Pleo at partner events, conferences, and within the wider fintech ecosystem What you bring You’ll thrive in this role if you have: 5+ years of experience in channel sales, partner management, or alliances within SaaS, fintech, or B2B technology A strong commercial drive and proven track record of hitting sales targets through partners A strategic mindset combined with a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach Experience building and scaling partner programs to deliver measurable revenue impact Exceptional relationship-building, influencing, and negotiation skills Ability to clearly articulate joint value propositions and close deals with partners Structured, independent approach and enjoys designing your own playbook Fluency in German and strong in English, both writing and speaking Willingness to travel up to 30% across the region Nice to have: Experience working with accounting and consulting firms Familiarity with channel-led growth models and ecosystem partnerships Why is this role a good fit for you This role is a good fit for you if: You are a hunter at heart: you thrive on driving new business and enjoy the challenge of converting partners into active revenue generators rather than just maintaining existing relationships You have experience in the SMB / Mid Market space and understand that success in this role comes from high-velocity activity and managing a large numbers of smaller deal sizes You already speak the language of accounting firms, consulting practices, and SMB finance ecosystems This role is not a good fit for you if: You are used to managing 2-3 massive global alliances with multi-year sales cycles, the high-volume nature of the Pleo partner channel may feel too fast-paced. You prefer a purely relationship management and long term strategic nurturing without a direct sales/quota target, this "hunter" shift will not align with your goals. You require a set-in-stone manual on "how we've always done it", you might find the entrepreneurial nature of this role frustrating How you’ll develop in this role In your first 6 months, you will: Map and prioritise the DACH partner landscape Take ownership of key existing partner relationships Drive new partnership conversations that create tangible revenue impact Launch co-marketing and go-to-market initiatives to activate partners Build a scalable, repeatable playbook for partner success in the region Your growth is important – whether expanding your scope, leading larger strategic initiatives, or moving into a broader leadership role, Pleo supports your career development. Show me the benefits! 💳 Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!) 🍜 Lunch is on us for your work days - enjoy catered meals or receive a lunch allowance based on your local office 🌴 We offer 28 days of holiday + your public holidays 🏠 For our Team, we offer both hybrid and fully remote working options 🏖️ Option to purchase 5 additional days of holiday through a salary sacrifice ❤️‍🩹 We use MyndUp to give our employees access to free mental health and well-being support with great success so far 👶 Paid parental leave - we want to make sure that we're supportive of families and help you feel that you don't have to compromise your family due to work The interview process We want to ensure you are set-up for success and understand what will be expected of you. If your application is successful, our interview process is as follows: Intro call: A 30-minute chat with our Talent Acquisition Partner to discuss the role and your background. Hiring Manager Interview: A 45- minute chat with the manager to deep dive in your experience Challenge & Team Interview: We will send you a take home test and invite you to present during a 60 minute team interview. This is an opportunity to show us how you would handle the day to day of the role Bar Raiser: A final interview with a senior leader Transparency is important to us so we also wanted to share some insights about what we’re looking for in applications to ensure you can set yourself up for success! Last time we hired for this role, we received a vast number of applications but only a few were selected for an intro call. Some of the key reasons why previous candidates didn’t make it past the application screening stage include: CV writing and content: it was very clear that many of the CVs we saw were very generic and AI generated. There is no issue with leveraging AI to help with CV writing, there was little indication of what real impact the candidates had in their previous experience. You might have heard of the “Achieved X, as measured by Y, by doing Z” formula (credit Laszlo Bock ~2014), this is a great way to give a clear picture of what you have actually worked on. A link to the company websites of your previous roles is also a huge help! Application care: every single application we receive is reviewed by a human (yes, hundreds of them) because we believe that candidates' efforts should be matched by an equal level of human care. This means that we expect a similar level of attention put into your application. Read and answer the application questions carefully, they make a huge difference in our decision-making process. Profile to role fit: highlight most important aspects of the role, points that might get misunderstood, any specific industry requirements etc. About your application Please submit your application in English; it’s our company language so you’ll be speaking lots of it if you join 💕 We treat all candidates equally: If you are interested please apply through our application system - any correspondence should come from there! Our lovely support team isn't able to pass on any calls/ emails our way - and this makes sure that the candidate experience is smooth and fair to everyone 😊 We can only achieve our goals if our team reflects the diversity of the world around us - and that starts with you, hitting apply, even if you are worried you might not tick all the boxes. We embrace and encourage people from all backgrounds to apply - regardless of race/ethnicity, colour, religion, nationality, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, neurodiversity, socio-economic status, culture or beliefs. When you submit an application we process your personal data as a data processor. Find out more about how your data is used in the FAQs section at the bottom of our jobs page.