Preparing for an AWS Partner Development Manager interview
Partner roles are about growing a business through other companies: consultancies, resellers and software vendors. You sell through and with partners, which means the interview tests influence without authority as much as sales results.
What interviewers look for
You'll need to show you can build a joint plan with a partner, get their sellers to prioritise your offering, and turn that into measurable pipeline and revenue. Expect probing on how you handle conflict between a partner and a direct sales team, and how you decide which partners deserve your time.
The stories you need
| Story | Principles it usually proves |
|---|---|
| You built a partnership that created new pipeline | Think Big, Deliver Results |
| You got a partner's team to prioritise your offering | Earn Trust, Invent and Simplify |
| You resolved a conflict between a partner and a sales team | Earn Trust, Have Backbone |
| You stopped investing in a partner that wasn't working | Are Right, A Lot; Frugality |
| You trained or enabled a partner's sellers | Hire and Develop the Best |
Common partner question patterns
- How do you decide which partners to invest in?
- Tell me about a partnership that didn't work. What did you learn?
- Tell me about a time you influenced people who didn't report to you.
- How would you build a joint business plan with a new partner?
Questions
What does an AWS Partner Development Manager do?
They grow AWS business through partners such as consultancies and software companies, building joint plans, enabling partner sellers and driving partner-sourced pipeline.
How should I prepare for a partner sales interview?
Prepare stories about building and growing partnerships with clear numbers, influencing people who don't report to you, and handling conflict between partners and direct sales teams.
Turn this into a prep plan you can actually follow
A Notion workbook for AWS sales interviews: a story bank that scores your stories as you write them, 29 question patterns mapped to the principles, a planner for every round and a day-of cheat sheet. £29, one payment.
Principled Pitch is independent and has no connection with Amazon or AWS. Amazon publishes the official Leadership Principles on its careers site.