Thrive Capital Portfolio Careers

Channel Account Specialist

Formal

Formal

Sales & Business Development
San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted on Aug 19, 2025

Location

San Francisco

Employment Type

Full time

Department

Sales

About Formal

Formal is data security platform designed to help teams understand and control their data on autopilot.

We're building a modern protocol-aware reverse-proxy for datastores and APIs that helps organizations understand their data in real-time. This allows teams to see how sensitive data is stored, consumed, and used in order to enforce least privilege through masking, filtering, or anonymization policies.

We are trusted by leading companies such as Ramp, Gusto, Notion to solve problems across data security and compliance, data quality management, and infrastructure access.

Formal is backed by top-tiers VCs including Thrive Capital and Y Combinator with angel investors that include executives and founders from Datadog, Clickhouse, Plaid, and Vanta.

About the Role

As our Channel Account Specialist, you will play a crucial role in shaping Formal's relationships with channel partners. You'll work closely with our product, sales, and leadership teams to develop and execute partner strategies that drive growth and establish Formal as a leader in the data security space.

What you'll do

  • Strategic Planning: Develop and implement a comprehensive channel strategy to drive revenue growth and expand the partner ecosystem.

  • Partner Recruitment: Identify, recruit, and onboard new channel partners, including resellers, distributors, and strategic alliances.

  • Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with key partners, serving as the primary point of contact and advocate for their needs.

  • Sales Enablement: Provide partners with the necessary tools, training, and resources to effectively sell and support our data security solutions.

  • Performance Management: Set performance metrics, monitor partner performance, and implement improvement plans as needed to ensure partners meet and exceed sales targets.

  • Marketing Collaboration: Work closely with the marketing team to develop and execute joint marketing campaigns and events that drive demand and generate leads through the channel.

  • Forecasting and Reporting: Provide accurate sales forecasts and regular performance reports to senior management, highlighting successes, challenges, and opportunities for growth.

  • Product Knowledge: Stay up-to-date with our product offerings and industry trends to effectively communicate value propositions to partners and end customers.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with internal teams, including sales, marketing, product management, and customer support, to ensure alignment and success of channel initiatives.

What You Need

  • Minimum of 5 years of experience in channel sales or partner management, preferably in the data security or technology industry.

  • Demonstrated success in developing and managing a high-performing channel partner network within the security industry with a track record of achieving and exceeding sales targets.

  • Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively with partners at all levels.

  • Strong strategic and analytical skills, with the ability to develop and execute effective channel strategies.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present and articulate complex concepts clearly and persuasively.

  • Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate both internal teams and external partners.

  • Ability to understand and communicate technical concepts related to data security solutions.

  • Willingness to travel as needed to meet with partners and attend industry events.


Compensation

  • This role offers cash compensation and a stock options grant.

  • The positioning of offers within a certain range depends on various factors, including: candidate experience, qualifications, skills, business requirements and geographical location.


Benefits (for U.S.-based full-time employees)

  • 100% medical, dental & vision insurance coverage for you

    • Partially covered for your dependents

  • Flexible PTO