Oakstone International partnered exclusively with Smart Communications to appoint an SVP Global Alliances and Partners in the USA, supporting the evolution of its global partner strategy during a key growth phase. Through a structured, multi-channel search approach, Oakstone identified and engaged senior talent with proven experience scaling partner ecosystems in high-growth SaaS environments. The successful appointment delivered a leader capable of accelerating the company’s next stage of expansion and strengthening its global partner engine in just 12 weeks.

Background

Smart Communications is the only provider of a customer conversation management platform. Built from the cloud up, we help enterprises deliver SMARTER conversations across the entire customer lifecycle – and at scale – and empower them to succeed in today’s digital-focused, customer-driven world while also simplifying processes and operating more efficiently.

Founded in 1991 as Thunderhead, with Smart Communications forming in 2016 via acquisition by Accel KKR
Dual HQ in the UK/US, with approx. 500 employees
Cloud-enabled Customer Communications Management (CCM) and Digital Transformation provider.

Search Background

Oakstone International has partnered with Smart Communications for over a decade, supporting multiple senior hires across Director, Senior Director and VP-level roles. This long-standing relationship, built on trust and consistent delivery, positioned Oakstone as the sole search partner for the appointment of an SVP, Partner & Alliances.

The hiring manager for the role was CRO, Dave Towers, with whom Oakstone had previously collaborated. Given the strategic importance of the role and Oakstone’s deep understanding of the business, no other recruitment partners were engaged.

The requirement was triggered by the planned retirement of a highly successful incumbent after nearly a decade in the role.

Requirements

Smart Communications operates a well-established and successful partner ecosystem, particularly strong across ISVs, however, the business identified an opportunity to expand its partner model further across hyperscalers, GSIs, and reseller channels.

The business sought a senior leader who could:

Enhance and scale the partner programme globally
Expand capabilities across hyperscalers, GSIs, and reseller channels
Support the company’s next phase of growth under private equity ownership

The role required a leader with experience in high-growth SaaS environments, ideally having operated within similar revenue scaling journeys.

Oakstone’s Approach and Solution

Oakstone delivered a fully integrated search process, managing a combination of internal, referred, and externally sourced candidates through a single, structured framework.

Our approach included:

Comprehensive market mapping across relevant SaaS ecosystems
Targeting leaders with experience in comparable growth environments
Aligning candidates to both sector focus (regulated industries) and technology landscape

This ensured a highly curated shortlist aligned to both current needs and future growth ambitions.

Search Challenges

The primary challenges centred around:

Identifying candidates with direct experience of scaling partner functions in high-growth SaaS environments
Ensuring strong alignment across a global stakeholder group
Balancing a broad candidate pool while maintaining a high bar for experience and cultural fit

Search Results

The process took approximately 12 weeks, with Oakstone engaging a diverse, high-quality candidate pool across multiple channels.

Following a multi-stage interview process involving senior global stakeholders, Smart Communications appointed Satish Shenoy to the role.

He was selected based on:

Proven experience in scaling partner ecosystems
Strong leadership mindset and energy
Alignment with the company’s growth ambitions

Oakstone Perspective

As SaaS businesses transition into their next phase of growth, leadership requirements often evolve.

This search demonstrates the importance of:

Bringing in experience aligned to future scale, not just past success
Structuring a robust and objective search process
Partnering with a search firm that understands both the business and the broader SaaS talent market

Press Releases

Smart Communications Appoints Satish Shenoy as SVP, Global Alliances and Partners

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Oakstone’s long-standing relationship with Smart Communications, combined with a deep understanding of its leadership team and growth strategy, enabled a highly tailored and efficient search process for a critical leadership hire.
Beyond technical capability, Oakstone focused on identifying candidates with the mindset, energy, and experience to operate in high-growth SaaS environments and align with Smart Communications’ collaborative and performance-driven culture.
This role required a leader who could not only manage an established partner ecosystem but also scale and evolve it in line with ambitious growth targets, particularly across new partner channels such as hyperscalers and GSIs.