Partner Operations & AI Automation Manager

Acquia empowers global brands to create digital customer experiences using open-source Drupal at its core. The Acquia Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enables marketers, developers, and IT teams to rapidly deploy engaging digital products and services.

Headquartered in the U.S., Acquia is a market-leading software company listed among the world’s top software firms. With employees in over 30 countries, Acquia is building for the future and wants you to be part of it.

The Partner Operations & AI Automation Manager will drive operational excellence and partner program management. This role requires a strategic thinker with expertise in business processes, cross-functional collaboration, and a proven ability to deliver results in fast-paced environments. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and process improvement instincts with technical skills to design, build, and deploy AI-powered workflows, and can communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Partner Operations Manager will organize, plan, and execute across the following areas:

Operations & Process Improvement

• Identify bottlenecks in partner-facing and internal processes; design, document, and implement improvements end-to-end.
• Own the mapping of partner operations processes, lead process improvement projects, and measure impact against efficiency and margin targets.
• Proactively identify opportunities to reduce COGS spend, improve cost traceability, and support contract negotiations with relevant data.
• Own the end-to-end partner journey, mapping touchpoints, removing system friction, and optimizing tools to drive partner satisfaction and engagement.

AI Automation & Agent Development

• Design, build, and deploy AI agents and automated workflows that reduce manual effort across partner operations processes.
• Apply AI tooling (including Claude, Gemini, and automation platforms) to high-impact, high-frequency operational tasks, with clear frameworks for prioritization, testing, and iteration.
• Own the implementation of AI/automation frameworks across OEM operations, Partner Journey, and the Partner Portal.
• Understand and apply AI grounding, prompt design, and output validation to ensure accuracy and reliability of deployed agents.

Systems Ownership & Technical Fluency

• Own the maintenance, configuration, and optimization of partner operations tools and systems, including Salesforce, Jira, the Partner Portal, Crossbeam, and related platforms.
• Serve as a key contributor in the selection, deployment, and upkeep of tools, including leading evaluation frameworks for new platforms (e.g., Partner Portal rebuild on Drupal PaaS).
• Leverage Salesforce and Jira at a hands-on level: build reports and dashboards, manage workflow logic, and reconcile data across systems to surface actionable insights.
• Pull, clean, and analyze data from multiple systems to answer business questions and support partner program decision-making.

Project Management & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead project planning and execution for high-visibility initiatives including the Partner Portal rebuild, AI/automation rollouts, and partner program enhancements.
• Own project scopes, timelines, and accountability tracking across cross-functional stakeholders, ensuring progress without stalling as priorities shift.
• Partner with the Channel, Salesforce, and Engineering teams to clearly articulate operational needs, requirements, and proposed solutions.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for partner operations tools, managing partner requests and leading partner-facing communications.
• Foster a collaborative, knowledge-sharing culture across the team.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Hands-on experience building and deploying AI agents or automated workflows — not just using AI tools, but designing and implementing them.
• Deep working knowledge of Salesforce: reports, dashboards, workflow rules, data objects, and cross-system reconciliation.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Desire and interest in working in a high-volume office atmosphere.
• Ability to multitask and quickly shift focus.
• Thrive in ambiguous, fast-paced environments by independently navigating unstructured data, defining new processes, and adapting to shifting business priorities.
• Ability to complete multi-step tasks with a high level of accuracy.
• Excellent teamwork, interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills.
• Strong work ethic.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE

• 5+ years working in Business systems management, Sales operations, Process Improvement, Partner Management.
• Proficiency in Jira for project and issue tracking, including workflow configuration and cross-team coordination.
• Familiarity with Drupal or Drupal PaaS is a strong plus, particularly for candidates contributing to Partner Portal scoping and implementation.
• AI-first driven mindset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong working knowledge of Google Suite.
• Strong working knowledge of Salesforce.
• Experience with process improvement initiatives.
• Experience working with enterprise BI/reporting software such as Domo is a plus.