Head of Channel

About this role

About Adaptive

Adaptive is a cybersecurity startup on a mission to stop AI-powered cyberattacks. In December 2025, the company announced an $81M Series B led by NVIDIA and Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Capital One Ventures, Citi Ventures, and continued support from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the OpenAI Startup Fund, and Abstract Ventures. The round marked NVIDIA’s first AI cybersecurity investment.

Adaptive was founded by Brian Long and Andrew Jones, repeat entrepreneurs who have built and scaled category-defining companies. Brian and Andrew previously co-founded Attentive, which grew to more than $500M in annual revenue and a $10B+ valuation, and TapCommerce, which was acquired by Twitter. Together, they bring deep experience building high-growth, product-led businesses at massive scale as Adaptive builds the security layer for the AI era.

Trusted by leading banks, technology companies, and healthcare organizations, Adaptive protects teams from emerging threats like deepfakes, smishing, and AI-powered voice scams. With rapid enterprise adoption and a $200B+ market ahead, the company is just getting started.

The Role

Adaptive is rapidly growing and at the stage where we are looking to transform our channel program. We're hiring a Head of Channel to 10x the program: define the strategy, build our partner relationships, stand up the programs that make those partnerships productive, and lead the team that runs it day to day. You'll be setting the direction for how Adaptive shows up in the partner ecosystem for years to come, and you'll have real influence over what "channel" means at this company.

Responsibilities

- Define Channel Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive North America partner strategy aligned with Adaptive's go-to-market objectives

- Build the Ecosystem: Recruit, onboard, and scale relationships with key partners including VARs, GSIs, MSSPs, and technology/cloud partners

- Drive Revenue Growth: Own partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline and revenue targets for the region

- Partner Enablement: Design and implement enablement programs — training, certification, and sales tools — so partners can effectively position, sell, and deliver Adaptive's platform

- Go-to-Market Execution: Collaborate with regional sales leadership on joint account planning and co-selling motions

- Program Development: Build scalable partner programs, incentive structures (SPIFFs, rebates, deal registration), and operational frameworks that accelerate partner engagement and performance

- Executive Relationships: Establish and maintain senior-level relationships with partner executives, representing Adaptive at the highest levels of the partner organization

- Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with Marketing on joint campaigns, Product on integrations, and Customer Success on partner-assisted delivery models

- Team Leadership: Hire, mentor, and lead a high-performing channel team across North America as the program scales

- Reporting & Forecasting: Own channel forecasting and reporting, providing visibility to executive leadership on pipeline, performance, and program ROI

Qualifications

- 8-10+ years of experience in channel/alliances leadership within cybersecurity, data security, or enterprise SaaS

- Proven track record building and scaling high-performing partner ecosystems, primarily in North America

- Strong existing relationships with key channel partners (e.g., CDW, Optiv, SHI, GuidePoint, WWT, GSIs, hyperscalers)

- Demonstrated success building channel partner programs in cybersecurity & driving significant partner-sourced revenue at scale

- Deep understanding of enterprise sales cycles and co-selling motions

- Strong executive presence with the ability to influence both internally and externally

- Experience in high-growth startup or scale-up environments strongly preferred

- Ability to operate both strategically and tactically in a fast-paced environment

- Prior people-leadership experience building and managing a channel team

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