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Salary: USD 182,400 - 262,200 / annual
IonQ is seeking a Global Alliances Lead to develop and manage a carefully selected portfolio of strategic advisory and consulting partnerships (e.g., McKinsey, BCG, Accenture, EY). This role owns worldwide relationships and joint business plans with a focus on executive commitment, shared customer pursuits, and measurable commercial outcomes across IonQ's entire portfolio: quantum computing, networking, security, sensing, space, and merchant services.
The role combines strategic partnership development with hands-on commercialization. You will personally engage partner practice leaders and account teams in customer discovery, opportunity qualification, and business-case development. Working with IonQ's Field Engineering, Partner Engineering, and Platform Sales Specialists, you will establish feasible scope, technical success criteria, and growth milestones for quantum engagements. You will build seller confidence through joint execution and evidence from customer work, creating a credible path from initial engagement to follow-on adoption.
Key responsibilities include selecting priority advisory and consulting firms based on customer relevance, executive sponsorship, and quantum capacity; developing focused joint business plans with explicit industry and regional priorities; personally co-selling early customer engagements from discovery through solution development and close; establishing effective global-regional pursuit cadence; and capturing customer-approved success stories and reusable playbooks. You will work with regional partner leads to activate global alliances locally, build success stories, and replicate effective approaches. You will also lead alliance commercial frameworks and joint investments with Legal and Finance, maintain qualified pipeline and forecasts, and expand to additional accounts and partners when lighthouse results demonstrate customer value and repeatability.
Within the first year, success means securing referenceable wins from carefully selected lighthouse partners, progressing qualified customer engagements toward successful technical and commercial outcomes, establishing an effective global-regional pursuit cadence, and documenting evidence and playbooks needed to replicate success. Initial wins should establish referenceable quantum computing and quantum-safe cybersecurity engagements with outcomes and playbooks that can be replicated.
Significant domestic and international travel is expected. The role has a global remit and requires the ability to operate across multiple regions and time zones.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 8+ years in strategic alliances, including ownership of complex relationships with advisory or consulting firms
- Credibility with senior consulting practice and industry leaders; understanding of consulting economics and how to turn advisory influence into joint opportunities
- Proven track record of developing focused, early-stage partnerships into scalable channels that deliver sustained revenue growth
- Demonstrated commercial expertise in frontier technologies or emerging technology categories: translating uncertain capabilities, evolving roadmaps, and customer needs into credible, staged adoption plans
- Record of building a small number of deep partnerships and personally co-selling early customer engagements, from discovery and qualification through solution development, negotiation, and close
- Strong executive communication, commercial negotiation, and cross-functional leadership; discipline in pipeline qualification, forecasting, and investment prioritization
- Experience converting early customer engagements into approved references, reusable solution patterns, and repeatable partner sales motions
- Ability to operate globally and travel; master's degree or equivalent professional experience
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Quantum experience (quantum computing, networking, security, space, or sensing), including commercialization, partnerships, customer adoption, or technical solution development
- Experience with sovereign or regulated markets, public-sector procurement, or international trade compliance relevant to advanced technology
- Ability to work closely with technical specialists, distinguish validated capabilities from future potential, and establish customer success criteria without overstating readiness
