**Introduction** The 'IBM Ecosystem' includes thousands of partners who 'Build' on, 'Sell' or 'Service' IBM technologies and platforms. This role will specifically cover ‘Sell’ partners (VARs) and value-added distributors (VADs). Focused on expanding the overall capability and capacity of the Ecosystem, you'll serve in part as a technical consultant - building trust, understanding the value of our partners' offerings, and co-creating solutions that showcase the strength of our collaboration. All-the-while building confidence that motivates partners to include IBM solutions at the heart of their client proposals. Excellent onboarding and learning culture will set you up for positive impact and success, whilst ongoing development will advance your career through an upward trajectory. Our sales environment is collaborative and experiential. Part of a team, you'll be surrounded by bright minds and keen co-creators - always willing to help and be helped - as you apply passion to work that will compel your partners to lead with IBM offerings when recommending solutions to their clients. **Your role and responsibilities** As a Cloud Partner Technical Specialist your purpose is to influence your partners' technical strategies. As a deeply technical seller, you'll increase your partners' technical capabilities by enabling their sales and technical sellers to experientially demonstrate IBM Technology at scale with your clients. Your primary responsibilities will include: * Facilitation of Pre-Sales Technical Activities: Facilitate pre-sales, experiential technical activities such as technology demonstrations and co-creation working sessions that lead to proofs of concept (PoC) and/or minimal viable products (MVPs). * Leadership in Building Technical Skills: Lead the delivery of joint-learning activities to build technical skills and expertise of partners, enabling co-selling opportunities. Work with product and sales leaders to simplify the solutioning and architecture process for complex solutions. * Identify Product-Market Fit and Drive Technical Programs: Collaborate with SMEs, partners, product, and marketing teams to uncover gaps, strengthen market alignment, and explore new growth opportunities. * Continuous Knowledge Expansion: Continuously expand essential business, industry, technology, architecture, and competitive knowledge in cloud trends and cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes, Red Hat, Docker, Cloud Foundry, Serverless computing and much more. * Fostering a Growth-Minded Culture: Encourage a culture of growth-mindedness, co-creation, and technical eminence to deliver value that leverages industry, brand, and portfolio expertise to drive innovations that accelerate partners' success. **Required technical and professional expertise** * Deep Technical Expertise in IBM Cloud Platform Portfolio: Demonstrable client-facing, technical subject matter expertise within the cloud platform portfolio, with the ability to engage in complex, architectural conversations. * Excellence in Communication and Collaboration: Provable excellence in people, communication, and collaboration skills with a track record of networking and influencing, at all levels, throughout the successful closure of complex technology sales cycles achieved both independently and through teamwork. * Attention to Detail and System Usage: Proven discipline and attention to detail with the usage of sales management and recording systems, as well as efficient expectation setting and follow-up practices. * Understanding of the IBM Sales Go-to-Market Model: Proven ability to understand IBM’s client strategy and aligning the partner ecosystem with the IBM sales organizations. **Preferred technical and professional experience** * Experience with Cloud Market Knowledge: Proficiency in cloud market knowledge to provide trusted client and partner advice. * Experience with Technical Sales: Experience with opportunity discovery, technical qualifying, designing cloud solutions aligned with client objectives and generating configurations to be included in client proposals. * Experience with Cloud Portfolio: Technical experience in key Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service technologies such as VMWare, PowerVS, HPC, Red Hat OpenShift, AI-ready Infrastructure, Financial Services Cloud, Security Compliance is a plus. * Cloud Networking: Demonstrable knowledge of cloud gateways, software defined networking and point to point networking. IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.