Head of International Alliances

Head of International Alliances

The Company

TurbineOne builds AI-powered software for frontline operators working in defense, national security, and tactical environments. Our Frontline Perception System (FPS) helps teams process and act on critical information in low-connectivity, real-world conditions.

We’re a fast-moving DefenseTech startup building products that matter in mission-critical environments.

Team: Growth
Location: Europe / Remote
Reports to: Chief Growth Officer

The Role

As Head of International Alliances, you will lead TurbineOne's strategy for identifying, evaluating, building, onboarding, enabling, managing, and scaling strategic partnerships that accelerate growth across Europe and MENA. You'll be responsible for expanding our ecosystem across defense primes, technology companies, systems integrators, OEMs, and venture-backed DefenseTech innovators. This is a leadership role that directly supports revenue generation by improving market access, strengthening customer propositions, enabling joint pursuits, and helping TurbineOne's sales organization create, advance, and win opportunities.

To excel in this role, you should thrive on analyzing markets, decoding competitive dynamics, identifying mutually beneficial alliances, and turning those relationships into measurable commercial outcomes. You will work side-by-side with Sales and collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Legal, Government Relations, and Executive Leadership. Prior experience as a direct, quota-carrying salesperson is required so that you understand firsthand what sales teams need from a partner, how complex defense opportunities progress, and how partnerships should contribute to pipeline and revenue without competing with Sales for customer ownership.

Primary Responsibilities

Partnership Program

• Launch & Scale: Own the end-to-end development and execution of TurbineOne's international partnership program, with primary responsibility for Europe and MENA.

• Target High-Value Alliances: Identify and secure technology, channel, integration, distribution, manufacturing, and strategic partners that improve customer access, market reach, technical differentiation, or probability of win.

• Develop the European and MENA Ecosystem: Forge deep, long-term relationships with European defense primes, systems integrators, OEMs, emerging DefenseTech companies, and relevant government and NATO innovation organizations.

• Team with Sales: Build partnerships around specific commercial objectives, target accounts, programs, and pursuits that help TurbineOne sales teams create qualified pipeline, gain customer access, and improve win probability.

• Build for the Future: Establish scalable partnership processes, systems, governance, playbooks, and operating models that can support future regional or sector-focused partner managers.

Partnership Diligence

• Lead and coordinate commercial and strategic diligence for prospective European and MENA partnerships.

• Evaluate partner capabilities, reputation, technical fit, financial stability, genuine customer access, competitive positioning, incentives, and execution risk.

• Coordinate cross-functional technical, operational, legal, contracts, security, compliance, financial, and business reviews prior to partnership approval.

• Develop Go/No-Go recommendations and executive decision briefings that clearly articulate the expected strategic and commercial value of each partnership.

Commercial Execution

• Structure and negotiate partnership frameworks including:

  • NDAs

  • Teaming Agreements

  • Memorandums of Understanding

  • Reseller Agreements

  • Distribution Agreements

  • Strategic Alliance Agreements

• Work with contracts, legal, and outside counsel (as appropriate) to document, review, and finalize agreements.

• Build repeatable partnership playbooks, onboarding processes, governance models, sales-facing rules of engagement, and success metrics tied to pipeline, customer access, and partner performance.

Market Expansion

• Expand TurbineOne's reach across priority European and MENA defense markets through strategic partnerships that complement the direct sales motion.

• Identify priority countries, defense programs, customer segments, and opportunities where a partner can materially accelerate access, contracting, integration, or adoption.

• Develop partner enablement strategies that empower partners to accurately position, support, and grow TurbineOne while preserving clear customer and opportunity ownership with the sales organization.

• Establish and progress joint go-to-market planning, co-selling, demonstrations, capture efforts, proposals, and marketing initiatives tied to specific customers, programs, and measurable commercial outcomes.

In a Typical Week You Will

• Evaluate and Initiate Strategic Alliances: Meet with a prospective European or MENA prime, integrator, or OEM to assess whether the relationship can materially improve TurbineOne’s access, positioning, or probability of success on priority opportunities.

• Execute Due Diligence: Validate market access, customer networks, reputation, competitive conflicts, incentives, and operational execution capabilities before recommending investment in a partner.

• Build Executive Recommendations: Synthesize diligence into structured Go/No-Go recommendations that define strategic rationale, commercial objectives, risks, and expected contribution to TurbineOne’s growth.

• Negotiate Key Agreements: Review, structure, and negotiate NDAs, teaming agreements, reseller agreements, and other partnership frameworks that protect IP, customer relationships, and TurbineOne’s long-term commercial interests.

• Align with Engineering: Partner cross-functionally with Engineering to evaluate integration feasibility with partner platforms.

• Build and Execute Joint Go-to-Market Plans: Work with Sales to develop partner-supported account, pursuit, co-selling, demonstration, and capture plans that accelerate qualified pipeline and improve win probability.

• Manage Ongoing Partner Relationships: Lead periodic business reviews with active partners to assess joint pipeline, account activity, enablement, performance, risks, and future milestones.

• Support Sales and Proposal Efforts: Work with Sales, Capture, and Proposal teams to coordinate partner participation in customer engagements and craft compelling multi-company proposals.

• Communicate with Executive Leadership: Review the prospective and active partnership portfolio, including partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, performance, risks, and strategic opportunities across Europe.

• Establish Best Practices: Create and curate partner competencies, playbooks, onboarding materials, enablement assets, and rules of engagement that make the partnership function easy for Sales to use.

Desired Experience

• 10+ years in Strategic Partnerships, Business Development, Alliance Management, Sales, or related commercial leadership roles, with meaningful responsibility for international markets.

• Significant experience within the defense, national security, aerospace, or DefenseTech ecosystem; direct DefenseTech experience is strongly preferred over general enterprise technology experience.

• Prior experience as a direct, quota-carrying salesperson with personal responsibility for pipeline development, opportunity management, forecasting, and revenue attainment.

• Demonstrated understanding of how complex defense technology sales progress from initial customer engagement through evaluation, capture, procurement, negotiation, and award.

• Demonstrated success identifying, activating, building, and managing strategic partnerships that contribute to measurable pipeline, revenue, customer access, or program wins.

• Meaningful experience working across European defense markets (MENA a plus), including familiarity with defense primes, systems integrators, OEMs, national procurement environments, and industry teaming structures.

• Strong understanding of international business development, distribution models, channel partnerships, joint go-to-market motions, and how partners should support—not replace—the direct sales organization.

• Experience structuring and reviewing U.S. and international commercial agreements such as NDAs, teaming agreements, reseller agreements, distribution agreements, and strategic alliance agreements.

• Working knowledge of ITAR, export controls, intellectual property considerations, government contracting compliance, and other requirements relevant to international defense business.

Expectations

• You're a builder who takes the initiative to create scalable partnership programs from the ground up in markets where TurbineOne may not yet have an established presence.

• You think strategically but execute tactically, and you evaluate partnerships by their ability to create measurable commercial value rather than activity alone.

• You have personally carried a quota and understand what Sales needs from a partner, while remaining disciplined about role clarity and customer ownership.

• You naturally connect people, organizations, and ideas into mutually beneficial partnerships—and know how to distinguish genuine market access from superficial relationships.

• You collaborate across Sales, technical, legal, and business teams to solve complex problems and support customer outcomes.

• You are comfortable with ambiguity, extensive European and MENA travel, startup speed, and continuously improving processes as TurbineOne scales internationally.

• Above all, you're motivated by helping deliver transformative AI capabilities into the hands of those operating on the front lines.

Originally posted on Himalayas