VP of Partnerships and Public Affairs

This role exists to ensure the company is not simply selling into government markets, but operating credibly, responsibly, and effectively within them. By bringing partnerships, public affairs, and ecosystem leadership together under a single executive, the company can accelerate growth, reduce risk, and strengthen its position as a trusted long-term partner to the human services mission. The Vice President of Partnerships & Public Affairs is a senior executive role responsible for building a high-impact partner ecosystem from near zero while helping shape the company’s public affairs, legislative strategy, and market credibility across federal, state, and county human services markets.

This role owns the partner strategy end to end, from recruitment and enablement through joint go-to-market execution, contracting, partner negotiations, attribution, governance, and performance management, and serves as a senior external representative of the company with consulting firms, technology partners, policymakers, associations, and other ecosystem leaders.

This leader is accountable for partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue and plays a critical role in shaping how the company is perceived by government executives, regulators, and industry stakeholders. This is a highly visible, externally facing role operating at the intersection of growth, formal advocacy and legislative strategy, policy awareness, and responsible government engagement, with the opportunity to help define a function that will matter materially to the company’s next stage of growth.

What you’ll be doing

Partner Strategy & Ecosystem Development

• Design and implement a structured, tiered partner program spanning channel, referral, technology, and consulting alliances from near zero.
• Define partner segmentation, value propositions, and engagement models aligned to the company’s target markets and sales motion.
• Identify, recruit, and activate high-impact partners across the human services ecosystem, including advisory firms, system integrators, technology providers, and niche specialists.
• Establish clear governance, operating cadence, and rules of engagement to enable scale while protecting sales integrity.
• Lead partner contracting and negotiations in close coordination with internal stakeholders, including Legal, Sales, and Finance.

Pipeline & Revenue Generation

• Own partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline targets with explicit accountability for revenue impact.
• Launch and execute joint go-to-market initiatives, account-based strategies, and campaigns with priority partners.
• Partner closely with Sales leadership to originate, advance, and close partner-driven opportunities.
• Support strategic pursuits where partners materially affect differentiation, credibility, or deal structure.                  

Partner Enablement & Performance Management

• Develop and deliver partner onboarding, enablement, certification, and sales training programs.
• Lead regular partner QBRs, pipeline reviews, and joint account planning.
• Define and manage partner performance metrics and incentives; actively optimize the partner portfolio.
• Ensure partner activity reinforces, rather than competes with, the company’s direct sales motion.

Public Affairs & Policy Leadership

• Serve as the executive owner of the company’s public affairs posture, formal advocacy, and legislative strategy in federal, state, and county human services markets.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior external stakeholders, including:
• Federal, State and county human services leaders
• National and regional associations
• Policy influencers, advisory bodies, and ecosystem conveners
• Monitor federal and state policy, regulatory, and procurement developments affecting human services technology.
• Translate policy and regulatory signals into strategic insight for Sales, Partnerships, Product, and executive leadership.
• Shape and reinforce the company’s positioning as a market-sensing, ecosystem-credible, and responsible voice on modernization, workforce productivity, outcomes, and fiscal stewardship.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Sales on thought leadership, conference strategy, and external messaging aligned to policy and market dynamics.
• Represent the company in select industry forums, advisory groups, and public discussions where ecosystem credibility supports long term growth.

Cross-Functional Alignment & Executive Leadership

• Align partnership and public affairs strategy with Sales, Marketing, Product, and executive leadership.
• Support strategic deals where regulatory context or external stakeholder alignment materially influences outcomes.
• Serve as a senior external spokesperson when appropriate, exercising judgment, discipline, and consistency.
• Provide clear internal guidance on messaging in politically sensitive or high-visibility engagements.
• Build the foundation for, and ultimately lead, a high-performing partnerships and external affairs function as the company scales.

First-Year Expectations

• Build the partner strategy and tiering model
• Establish the attribution and governance model
• Land 10 priority ecosystem relationships
• Launch the first joint go-to-market motions
• Define the company’s public affairs posture and market engagement plan

Success Metrics

• Number and productivity of active partners by tier
• Conversion rates across partner-driven opportunities
• Progress against first-year priorities, including partner tiering, attribution governance, ecosystem relationship targets, and launch of joint go-to-market motions

You may be a good fit for our team if you have the following skills…

• Typically 12+ years of significant senior leadership experience in partnerships, alliances, public affairs, government affairs, or business development.
• Proven track record of building partner programs with measurable pipeline and revenue impact.
• Demonstrated experience engaging state and local government leaders, associations, and regulated markets; adjacent regulated-market experience is also valued.
• Strong understanding of government procurement dynamics, public-sector ethics requirements, and the operating realities of regulated markets.
• Executive level communication skills with comfort operating in politically and commercially complex environments.
• Experience in SaaS, enterprise software, or technology businesses serving public or highly regulated sectors is required.

What we provide

• Medical (includes H.S.A. option with employer contribution), dental, and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Company paid basic life insurance
• 401(k) with 4% company match and immediate vesting
• Free financial education and consultation
• Wellness program that helps you earn lower premiums
• Robust EAP program that includes free therapy sessions, lifestyle coaching, legal/ID theft services, and more
• 12 weeks fully paid parental leave
• Up to $5,000 adoption fee reimbursement
• $500 wellness reimbursement after 60 days of employment
• Generous PTO policy and 10 company paid holidays
• Company paid cell phone plan

Find yourself checking a lot of these boxes but doubting whether you should apply? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every qualification. At Northwoods, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Northwoods is committed to diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are excited to work with talented people, period. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national or ethnic origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital or civil status, political affiliation, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Who is Northwoods?

Northwoods is a health and human services software company dedicated to reducing friction for frontline workers and turning complexity into clear, meaningful action. Part of the Banyan Software family, we build technology trusted by state and county agencies across the country, helping caseworkers and social workers spend less time navigating systems and managing paperwork and more time serving the families who need them most.

Our solutions span child welfare, childcare, child support, economic assistance, and adult & aging programs. Through products like Traverse and Compass, we give frontline teams easy access to case files, intelligent insights, and streamlined workflows, simplifying the administrative burden so workers can make better decisions and achieve better outcomes for the families they serve.

Beyond software, our managed service Grove embeds experienced child welfare professionals directly into agency teams. Grove handles the administrative heavy lifting, referral and records requests, court document preparation, and case file organization, so frontline workers can stay focused on fostering healthier families without sacrificing their own well-being.