Strategic Partnerships Manager (Platform Partnerships)

CuspAI; Greater London, Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity

Holiday leave (UK)

Parental leave

Professional development

Interdisciplinary teamwork

Job summary

CuspAI is seeking an experienced Partnerships Manager to lead the development of our R&D 'supply chain' across EMEA, ensuring our AI researchers have access to data, compute, and laboratory facilities to accelerate materials discovery.

You will build strategic academic and industry alliances, negotiate with compute providers, manage IP considerations, and drive grant opportunities, working closely with the Head of Partnerships and cross‑functional teams.

Qualifications

• Seasoned negotiator with experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or technology transfer
• Extensive experience directly managing cloud provider agreements
• Strong technical background with advanced degree in a scientific field and ability to speak the language of researchers and partners
• Exposure to AI Agents, MCP interfaces, or related experience
• Excellent communicator able to translate scientific goals into commercial proposals
• Thrives in early-stage, high-stakes environments and can build partnership frameworks from scratch

Responsibilities

• Lead negotiations and manage strategic relationships with major compute providers to ensure scalable, cost-effective infrastructure
• Monitor and optimize compute usage in line with technical roadmap and budget
• Identify and close partnerships with leading academic institutions and research labs for access to data and facilities
• Manage relationships with scientific publishers to enable data ingestion and collaborations
• Navigate IP and technology transfer within a research environment to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes
• Collaborate with grant teams to identify opportunities and lead commercial aspects of applications
• Liaise with Legal and Finance to ensure robust, compliant, and scalable contracts

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Business development

Technology transfer

Cloud provider agreements

AI/Deep-tech domain knowledge

Communication & negotiation

Education

Masters or PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Life Sciences or related field

Job description

About CuspAI

CuspAI is the frontier AI company on a mission to solve the breakthrough materials needed to power human progress. While nature took billions of years to perfect molecules, we are harnessing AI to unlock trillion-dollar materials breakthroughs in months, not millennia. Our founding team is the most cited in the world, comprised of world-class researchers in AI, chemistry and engineering.

We are working on some of the hardest and most important challenges including energy, clean water, the future of compute, and carbon capture, and this is just the start of what our 'search engine' for next-generation materials will unlock.

We invite you to be part of a diverse, innovative team at the intersection of AI and materials science, working to create impactful partnerships that drive innovation, scalability, and industry collaboration. This work matters. Your work matters.

We’re on the cusp of the on-demand materials era. Join us.

The Role

Due to our rapid growth and the expansion of our research capabilities, we are seeking an experienced Partnerships Manager to lead the development of our R&D "supply chain" across EMEA, ensuring CuspAI has the data, compute, and laboratory access required to accelerate materials discovery.

Your Impact

In this role you will be building the foundational ecosystem of technical and academic alliances that fuel our R&D engine, which is critical for CuspAI’s mission to solve global challenges like carbon capture and clean energy.

Your main focus initially will be securing high-value compute agreements and establishing formal data-sharing partnerships with publishers, experimental labs, and academic institutions. Over time you could also get involved in shaping our long-term grant strategy and managing complex multi-party collaborations between CuspAI and world-leading experimental labs.

What You Will Do

Compute & Infrastructure Partnerships

• Your initial focus is likely to be leading negotiations and managing strategic relationships with major compute providers to ensure our AI researchers have scalable, cost-effective infrastructure.

• You will also monitor and optimise compute usage agreements in alignment with our technical roadmap and budget.

Research Ecosystem & Academic Alliances

• In the mid-term, you are likely to be involved in identifying, negotiating, and closing partnerships with leading academic institutions and research labs to secure access to experimental data and specialised facilities.

• This would also involve managing relationships with scientific publishers to facilitate data ingestion and collaborative research opportunities.

• Navigating the complexities of IP and technology transfer within a research environment to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes.

Grants & Institutional Funding

• Collaborate with the research team to identify relevant grant opportunities.

• Lead the commercial and partnership aspects of grant applications, ensuring CuspAI is positioned as a preferred partner for large-scale scientific initiatives.

• Cultivate strategic relationships with funding bodies and consortium stakeholders to help shape emerging funding opportunities and position CuspAI favorably for inclusion in high-impact scientific programmes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Head of Partnerships and the wider leadership team to align partnership priorities with company milestones.

• Partner with our AI Researchers and Chemists to deeply understand their technical requirements for data and compute.

• Liaise with Legal and Finance to ensure all partnership agreements are robust, compliant, and scalable.

Must Have Skills and Qualifications:

• You are a seasoned negotiator with relevant experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or technology transfer, preferably within a deep-tech or high-growth AI environment.

• You have a wealth of experience directly managing cloud provider agreements.

• You hold a strong technical background with a degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Life Sciences or a related field (Masters or PhD preferred), allowing you to speak the language of our teams and partners fluently.

• Some level of exposure to AI Agents, MCP (Model Context Protocol) interfaces, or related experience.

• You are an expert communicator who can translate high-level scientific goals into compelling commercial proposals.

• You thrive in early-stage environments, possessing the autonomy to build partnership frameworks from scratch and the resilience to move fast in a high-stakes domain.

Bonus Points (But Not Critical):

• You have a proven track record of navigating complex negotiations with universities and/or global publishers.

• Existing networks within the EMEA research ecosystem, specifically with technology transfer offices at major UK and European universities.

• Familiarity with the European grant landscape (e.g. Horizon Europe, Innovate UK).

• Experimental chemistry and laboratory experience.

• A personal passion for sustainability and the potential for AI to revolutionise materials science.

Additional Considerations

This role would ideally be based in our Cambridge or London offices, but we could consider Amsterdam or Berlin for the right candidate. There would be an expectation around you being in the office three days per week depending on which projects you’re working on at the time. Additionally, there may be regular travel required to partner sites and/or other locations for collaboration and project work.

What We Offer

• A competitive salary: We value and reward impact and growth

• Equity in CuspAI: You have a stake in the success of the company

• Time off to stay fresh: 28 days holiday (DE, NL, UK) or 21 days holiday (JP, SG, US), in addition to local public holidays

• ‘Gold Standard’ parental leave: 26 weeks (primary caregiver) and 12 weeks (secondary caregiver) at full pay - we look after you and your family while we work on the most important materials discovery problems together

• Professional development budget: We invest in your career development so you can stay up to date with the latest industry knowledge or add to your skills to increase impact and growth

• Solve meaningful problems: See how your work has a direct impact on advancing materials science and solving sustainability and climate-related problems through the creation and application of bleeding-edge SOTA technology and revolutionary techniques

• True interdisciplinary teamwork: Be part of a deeply collaborative environment bridging AI research, computational chemistry, and experimental science - work with world-class researchers and engineers who enjoy sharing knowledge and supporting each other

Join us in shaping the future of materials with AI. Together, we can create groundbreaking solutions for a more sustainable world.

CuspAI is an equal opportunities employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds and value the unique perspectives and contributions that diversity brings to our team.

Please let us know if you require any specific adjustments during or after the interview process. We will do everything we can within reason to accommodate.