Channel & Alliance Partner Manager – Microsoft Azure

This role is eligible for full-time remote employment within the US or can be hybrid in our Durham, NC office 2-3 days/week. Please note that we unfortunately cannot sponsor H1B visas at this time. Aprio participates in the US Government's eVerify Program.

Arpio is building the next generation of disaster recovery for the cloud.

Modern enterprises run their most critical applications in complex, cloud-native environments, and the list of threats to those applications keeps growing: outages, ransomware, bad actors, and plain human error. We know resilience is about more than just backing up data, so we built a best-in-class SaaS platform that delivers automated, application-aware disaster recovery across both AWS and Azure, recovering the entire application stack rather than isolated resources.

Behind the scenes, we're a small but mighty team (YC21, Series A-backed) who love tackling hard problems and learning new things. We're fired up about building an innovative product and company from the ground up

Arpio is hiring a Channel & Alliance Partner Manager to own and grow our strategic relationship with Microsoft Azure. This role is the primary point of contact between Arpio and Microsoft's Azure partner organization, responsible for building joint go-to-market plans, driving co-sell pipeline through Microsoft's seller network, and ensuring Arpio's disaster recovery solution is positioned, certified, and promoted within the Azure ecosystem (including Azure Marketplace, ISV Success programs, and co-sell motions such as IP Co-sell and Marketplace Rewards). You will work cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Marketing, and Engineering to align Arpio's roadmap and integrations with Azure services, and to translate the Microsoft partnership into measurable pipeline and revenue.

• →Own the end-to-end Azure alliance relationship, serving as Arpio's primary liaison to Microsoft partner, field, and co-sell teams.
• →Build and execute a joint business plan with Microsoft that defines shared targets, marketing activities, enablement plans, and co-sell motions.
• →Drive pipeline generation and revenue through Azure co-sell programs, including IP Co-sell, Marketplace private offers, and joint field engagement with Microsoft account teams.
• →Manage and optimize Arpio's Azure Marketplace listing, transactability, and eligibility for Microsoft incentive and funding programs (e.g., Azure Migrate and Modernize, ISV Success).
• →Partner with Product and Engineering to guide technical integration priorities that strengthen Arpio's standing as an Azure-aligned ISV, including co-engineering or joint solution initiatives where relevant.
• →Enable Arpio's sales and customer success teams on how to identify, position, and close Azure co-sell opportunities; enable Microsoft sellers on Arpio's value proposition.
• →Track and report on co-sell pipeline, bookings influenced/sourced through Azure, and partner program KPIs; present results to Arpio leadership on a regular cadence.
• →Represent Arpio at Microsoft and industry events (e.g., Microsoft Ignite, Inspire) to build relationships and awareness within the Azure partner community.
• →Stay current on Microsoft partner program changes, Azure product roadmap, and competitive landscape to keep Arpio's alliance strategy ahead of the curve.

• 5+ years of experience in channel sales, alliances, business development, or partner management, ideally at a B2B SaaS or cloud infrastructure company.
• 3+ years directly managing or co-selling with Microsoft Azure specifically – hands-on experience running Azure co-sell motions (IP Co-sell, Marketplace Rewards, ISV Success, or equivalent)
• Demonstrated track record of building joint business plans with a hyperscaler and converting them into sourced or influenced pipeline and closed revenue.
• Working knowledge of Azure Marketplace mechanics (listing management, transactable offers, private offers) and Microsoft's partner incentive programs.

At Arpio, we care about the outcome as much as the effort it took to get there. We take initiative, follow through, and report back on what we learned along the way. That same instinct shows up in how we treat customers and each other: we respond quickly, speak honestly and openly, and trust our teammates to take direct feedback as a chance to grow. We move like a startup because we are one, spending wisely and treating every dollar and every customer like they matter, because they do. If that's how you like to work, you'll fit in well here. For this role, that looks like:

• Rigorous about tracking and reporting partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, calling out honestly what's working and what isn't so the team can double down or change course
• Comfort operating cross-functionally with Product and Engineering to translate a partner relationship into technical integration priorities.
• Excellent relationship-building, negotiation, and executive presentation skills; able to navigate a large partner organization like Microsoft as well as a fast-moving startup.
• Self-directed and comfortable building a program with limited existing infrastructure – this is a build-it role, not a maintain-it role.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20–30% for partner and customer engagements, including Microsoft events.