Senior Director of Partnerships

Sweed is a product-driven SaaS company building a leading technology platform for cannabis retailers. Our goal is to create a retail operating system capable of competing with the best mainstream POS solutions.

Sweed’s AI-powered Dispensary Operating System brings together POS, payments, e-commerce, marketing, analytics, inventory management, delivery, and automation in one integrated platform.

Founded in 2018, Sweed is a remote-first company of approximately 250 employees serving cannabis retailers across the United States. Today, Sweed is the leading challenger brand in the cannabis retail POS market, with the second-largest share of doors and an ambition to become the market leader by the end of 2028.

As Senior Director of Partnerships, you will build Sweed’s revenue-generating partner ecosystem from the ground up.

This is a senior, hands-on builder role for someone who can define the strategy and personally execute it—from mapping the market and approaching potential partners to building relationships, launching programs, and generating qualified opportunities.

Your primary goal will be to create a network of trusted organizations and professionals that influence how dispensaries open, operate, and select technology. These may include consultants, licensing attorneys, accounting firms, agencies, associations, construction and hardware providers, and other service providers across the cannabis ecosystem.

Reporting to the CRO, you will work closely with Sales, RevOps, and Marketing to turn partner relationships into qualified leads, new retail doors, pipeline, and revenue.

The role will initially operate without a dedicated team. As the partnership model demonstrates traction and commercial impact, you will have the opportunity to define the structure and build a team around the function.

Success will be measured by active partners recruited, qualified leads generated, coverage across priority markets, partner-sourced pipeline, and contribution to ARR.

Key Responsibilities

Build Sweed’s Partner Ecosystem

• Develop and execute Sweed’s partnership strategy across priority markets.
• Map the organizations and professionals that influence new dispensary openings and technology decisions.
• Build relationships with cannabis consultants, licensing attorneys, accounting firms, agencies, associations, construction and hardware providers, and other relevant service providers.
• Identify the partner categories and markets with the greatest potential commercial impact.
• Personally manage Sweed’s most important partner relationships.
• Build scalable referral, reseller, and co-selling programs based on clear mutual value.
• Move relationships from informal networking to consistent lead and pipeline generation.

Partner Activation and Enablement

• Create a clear value proposition for each priority partner category.
• Train partners to position Sweed accurately, recognize qualified opportunities, and make effective introductions.
• Develop onboarding materials, partner playbooks, and regular engagement cadences.
• Collaborate with Sales to ensure partner-generated leads are followed up on effectively.
• Work with Marketing on partner campaigns, webinars, events, regional activations, and co-marketing opportunities.

Revenue Impact and Partner Operations

• Drive qualified partner-generated leads into HubSpot.
• Partner with RevOps to define and track partner-sourced and partner-influenced activity.
• Establish clear rules for attribution, procuring cause, referral eligibility, incentives, and dispute resolution.
• Build CRM views, dashboards, and reporting that provide visibility into partner activity, leads, pipeline, doors, and revenue.
• Establish market- and category-level goals for partner recruitment and lead generation.
• Evaluate partner performance and focus resources on relationships producing meaningful commercial results.
• Recommend the team and resources required to scale the function as the partner channel grows.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in B2B SaaS partnerships, channel development, business development, or revenue-generating commercial roles.
• Demonstrated success building a partner, referral, reseller, or ecosystem-led growth motion from an early stage.
• A strong personal track record of generating qualified pipeline and revenue through partner relationships.
• Experience developing relationships with senior external stakeholders and industry influencers.
• Ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution, including market research, direct outreach, networking, negotiation, and follow-through.
• Strong understanding of sales processes, lead qualification, attribution, and CRM discipline.
• Ability to create structure, priorities, and operating processes where little currently exists.
• High ownership, independence, urgency, and accountability.
• Strong communication and executive presence.
• Willingness to travel to build relationships and represent Sweed in priority markets.

Relevant Industry Background

We are open to candidates from two relevant backgrounds:

• Professionals with deep knowledge of the cannabis retail ecosystem and an established network across retailers, consultants, service providers, associations, and other industry influencers; or
• Strong partnership and commercial leaders from closely related vertical SaaS markets, such as restaurant technology, hospitality technology, retail technology, POS, payments, or platforms serving multi-location brick-and-mortar businesses.

Candidates from adjacent industries should understand how to win in a competitive market with a finite number of locations, multiple established vendors, and products that may initially appear similar.

Relevant experience may include:

• Selling POS, payments, or operational software to physical locations.
• Building market share in a highly competitive vertical SaaS category.
• Targeting both new business openings and migrations from competing platforms.
• Using partner ecosystems and local relationships to generate opportunities.
• Working with consultants, associations, agencies, and service providers that influence technology decisions.

Regardless of industry background, the successful candidate must be able to operate independently and personally turn market relationships into qualified leads, pipeline, and revenue.

What Success Looks Like

During the first 6–12 months, you will be expected to:

• Establish a clear partnership strategy and operating model.
• Identify priority markets and partner categories.
• Build a portfolio of active partners that consistently generate qualified leads.
• Increase Sweed’s access to new dispensary openings and strategically important doors.
• Create visibility into partner activity and results through HubSpot.
• Establish clear attribution, accountability, and reporting.
• Develop a plan for scaling the function and building a dedicated team.