Role Overview
Adobe’s Strategic Partnership Program (SPP) wins when we operate in deep partnership with global system integrators (SIs) and co-create transformational opportunities that unlock multi-year customer value and scale. The Partner Strategic Pursuit Lead (Partner SPL) is the senior, consultative seller who leads Adobe’s transformational co-sell motion with priority SIs.
Partner SPLs operate as embedded leaders inside partner accounts by earning trust, commanding credibility with senior SI sellers, and shaping joint strategy long before a customer opportunity exists. They run a parallel sales cycle with SI account leadership to originate $10M+ transformational deals, co-create industry-led value narratives, and drive early-stage solutioning that accelerates Adobe’s sales cycle and strengthens SI service growth.
This role exists to originate and accelerate transformational pipeline, integrate Adobe into partner-led motions, and ensure Adobe and the SI show up as one strategic team in front of the customer. Partner SPLs lead the motions that produce predictable partner-led pipeline, stronger joint influence, and a scalable engine for transformation-led growth.
What You’ll Own
**Partner-Centric Opportunity Origination - **Develop and execute a repeatable process for identifying, qualifying, and originating transformational opportunities across named SI partners. Build the early-stage “hook” that aligns client priorities, SI strategy, and Adobe value.
**Executive Influence Across the SI - **Operate as a senior, consultative seller inside SI offices. Build credibility with senior sellers, sector leaders, strategy teams, and account partners. Expand internal SI awareness of Adobe to surface new opportunities.
**Dual-Sales-Cycle Leadership - **Run a structured partner-facing sales cycle in parallel to the customer cycle - discovery, objection handling, stakeholder mapping, trust building, and alignment.
**Joint Value Narrative & Early Solution Shaping - **Co-create compelling joint POVs with Adobe and SI leaders. Lead early-stage solutioning that sets the foundation for strong pursuits and accelerates the client engagement motion.
**Partner + Adobe Alignment on Priority Accounts - **Drive clarity and governance across Adobe SPP ecosystem (SPL, Accelerate, Specialists, COE, DSG) and the SI leadership team. Ensure both organizations operate from a unified execution plan.
**Transformational Pursuit Acceleration - **Lead partner-facing pursuit motions from DR Stage 1–3. Identify risks early, create pursuit governance, and prepare both firms for seamless client engagement.
**Originate and Close Large Deals - **Partner SPLs are senior consultative sellers. You originate transformational opportunities and co-lead closing motions alongside Adobe SPLs and SI senior sellers.
**Core Responsibilities **
· Identify and qualify transformational opportunities with named SI partners
· Build early joint value narratives that anchor Adobe + SI strategy
· Lead partner-side discovery, objection handling, and stakeholder alignment
· Command credibility with senior SI sellers and influencing stakeholders
· Build deep, embedded presence inside partner office environments
· Co-create transformational POVs with SI executives and Adobe SPP
· Orchestrate joint executive engagement and readiness across both firms
· Own early solution shaping and DR discipline (Stages 1–3)
· Maintain unified account strategies, governance, and execution plans
· Partner with SPLs and Accelerate to drive deal momentum and close large opportunities
· Expand internal partner awareness to surface and warm future targets
· Influence multiple SI leadership tiers: alliance, sector, industry, strategy, and delivery
· Escalate early to remove friction, misalignment, or risk across Adobe and the SI
What Great Looks Like
**Has Instant Credibility With Senior SI Sellers - **You are a seasoned consultative seller - able to sit with senior SI executives and speak their language on transformation, industry challenges, services economics, and customer strategy.
**Operates as a Leader by Leaders - **You influence without authority, command respect, and elevate the room. SI leaders look to you as a peer. Adobe executives trust your judgment and rely on your read of partner dynamics.
**Leads With Industry and Transformation First (Not Adobe First) - **Your opening pitch is about the client’s business, transformation pathways, long-tail services, and industry signals, not product. Adobe becomes the accelerant, not the lead story.
**Lives Inside the Partner - **You build proximity, presence, and relationship equity by spending meaningful time inside partner offices, earning trust through daily interactions, not quarterly meetings.
**Is a Master Transformation Storyteller - **You deliver a compelling Adobe transformation pitch that resonates with both SI senior sellers and client executives - and you do it naturally, confidently, and credibly.
**Runs a Disciplined, Repeatable Pursuit Motion - **You know what good looks like, what great looks like, and when to push both organizations to raise the bar.
**Originates & Accelerates Multi-Million-Dollar Deals - **You create the conditions for $10M+ opportunities and see them through from concept to close.
Required Experience
· 8–12+ years in enterprise consultative selling, SI strategic selling, transformation advisory, or senior services-led portfolio roles
· Proven track record originating and closing large, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals
· Deep knowledge of SI business models, services economics, delivery risks, industry structures, and transformation frameworks
· Executive presence: proven ability to influence senior leaders and command rooms
· Expertise crafting transformational and industry-specific value narratives
· Experience embedding within or working closely with large SIs or strategy consultancies
· Ability to operate autonomously in ambiguous enterprise environments
· Strong cross-functional orchestration skills
Excellence Indicators
· Gravitas & Executive Command: Senior sellers stop and listen when you speak.
· Transformation Fluency: You articulate transformation components with clarity and confidence.
· Industry-First Thinking: You start with the client’s business, not Adobe’s product.
· Embedded Influence: You act as an extension of the SI team, not an external vendor.
· Strategic Co-Creation: You build narratives and strategies with the SI, not at them.
· Joint Ownership: You treat the SI’s reputation and trust as carefully as Adobe’s.
· Velocity Through Clarity: You create pursuit structure, discipline, and momentum.
· Presence Under Pressure: You stay composed, confident, and credible in complex rooms.
About Adobe
Adobe empowers everyone to create through innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity and personalized customer experiences. Adobe’s industry-leading offerings including Adobe Acrobat Studio, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and GenStudio enable people and businesses to turn ideas into impact, powered by AI and driven by human ingenuity.
Our 30,000+ employees worldwide are creating the future and raising the bar as we drive the next decade of growth. We’re on a mission to hire the very best and believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. At Adobe, we believe that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization. The next big idea could be yours.
** Let’s Adobe together**
At Adobe, we believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. Learn more about Adobe life, including our values and culture, focus on people, purpose and community, Adobe for All, comprehensive benefits programs, the stories we tell, the customers we serve, and how you can help us advance our mission of empowering everyone to create.
Adobe is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on gender, race or color, ethnicity or national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Learn more.
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AI Use Guidelines for Interviews: Our interviews are designed to reflect your own skills and thinking. The use of AI or recording tools during live interviews is not permitted unless explicitly invited by the interviewer or approved in advance as part of a reasonable accommodation. If these tools are used inappropriately or in a way that misrepresents your work, your application may not move forward in the process.
At Adobe, we empower employees to innovate with AI — and we look for candidates eager to do the same. As part of the hiring experience, we provide clear guidance on where AI is encouraged during the process and where it’s restricted during live interviews. See how we think about AI in the hiring experience.
Expected Pay Range:
Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets. The U.S. pay range for this position is $219,500 -- $351,300 annually. Pay within this range varies by work location and may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process.
In California, the pay range for this position is $242,600 - $351,300 In New York, the pay range for this position is $242,600 - $351,300 In Illinois, the pay range for this position is $239,600 - $347,000
At Adobe, for sales roles starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP).
In addition, certain roles may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.
State-Specific Notices:
California:
Fair Chance Ordinances
Adobe will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and “fair chance” ordinances.
Colorado:
Application Window Notice
If this role is open to hiring in Colorado (as listed on the job posting), the application window will remain open until at least the date and time stated above in Pacific Time, in compliance with Colorado pay transparency regulations. If this role does not have Colorado listed as a hiring location, no specific application window applies, and the posting may close at any time based on hiring needs.
Massachusetts:
Massachusetts Legal Notice
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.