Director of Business Development

Nothing; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid work

Job summary

Nothing is building AIOS, an AI-native operating system. As Director of Business Development, North America, you'll identify and secure strategic partnerships with AI platforms, developers, and device ecosystems from our San Francisco office.

You will translate theses into pilots and live capabilities, working with product and engineering, and develop commercial structures; the role blends strategic thinking with hands-on relationship building in a fast-growing, design-led company.

Qualifications

• Product partnerships shipped from first conversation to live product, including AI partnerships or API-based platforms.
• Technical fluency across the AI stack, including on-device vs cloud, latency and cost.
• You have originated partnerships from cold outreach at a fast-growing or notable company.
• Disciplined decision-making to stop or reshape deals and explain why.
• Built partnership qualification, pilots and reviews that are used by others.
• Experience with commercial structuring, including non-standard deals.
• Device, silicon or new-form-factor partnerships that led to shipped capabilities.
• Genuine affinity for Nothing's brand and design-led mission.

Responsibilities

• Map the AI ecosystem and identify where an external partner can materially improve AIOS.
• Build clear partnership theses with product and engineering, and test them with senior decision-makers.
• Originate partnerships from cold and develop the relationships behind them.
• Propose commercial structures, including non-standard ones, that create value for Nothing and the partner.
• Take strongest opportunities from thesis to pilot to live capability, and prune ones that don't earn their place.
• Build how we qualify, pilot, decide on and review partnerships to outlast any one person's network.

Skills

Partnerships shipped

AI stack fluency

Builder mindset

Disciplined decision-making

Partnership systems

Commercial structuring

Device/form-factor partnerships

Brand affinity

Job description

Nothing exists to make tech feel exciting again.

We’re building a different kind of technology company, one that puts design, emotion, and human creativity at the heart of everything we do. From the way our products look and feel to how we communicate and show up in culture, we believe technology should make you feel something.

Founded in London in 2020, we’ve grown from idea to global challenger in just a few years. Backed by GV (Google Ventures), EQT Ventures, and C Ventures, and investors like Tony Fadell (iPod), Casey Neistat, and Kevin Lin (Twitch), we’re now sold in 40+ markets with millions of users worldwide.

About the role

Nothing is building AIOS, an AI-native operating system that brings agents across phone, cloud and connected devices. As Director of Business Development, North America, you'll find the partners that give AIOS a real product advantage, and see that advantage through into the product. You'll work directly with one of our co-founders, who leads our AI Native business unit, and alongside a growing engineering team in San Francisco, turning the partnerships you win into new AIOS capabilities.

Your focus is product and technical partnerships: models and cloud AI platforms, agent and developer infrastructure, and Gen UI and product-building tools. Hardware and new-form-factor partnerships are part of the remit where they create a clear path to a product proof.

What you'll do

• Map the AI ecosystem and identify where an external partner can materially improve AIOS
• Build clear partnership theses with product and engineering, and test them with senior decision-makers on both sides
• Originate partnerships from cold and develop the relationships behind them
• Propose commercial structures, including non-standard ones, that create value for Nothing and the partner
• Take the strongest opportunities from thesis to pilot to live capability, and stop or reshape the ones that don't earn their place
• Build how we qualify, pilot, decide on and review partnerships, so it outlasts any one person's network

What we're looking for

Must have

• Product partnerships that shipped: you've taken a partner from first conversation to a capability in a live product. AI partnerships (models, agent or developer infrastructure, AI product tools) are strongly preferred; platform partnerships built on APIs, SDKs or integrations also count
• Technical fluency across the AI stack: you can talk through integration paths and trade-offs, such as on-device versus cloud, latency and cost, with engineers
• Builder experience: you've originated partnerships from cold, ideally at a fast-growing or lesser-known company where the brand didn't open the door for you
• Disciplined decision-making: you know when to stop or reshape a deal, and can explain why
• Partnership systems you built (qualification, pilots, reviews) that others still use
• Commercial structuring, including non-standard deals, with ownership of the terms
• Device, silicon or new-form-factor partnerships that led to a shipped or prototyped AI capability
• Genuine affinity for Nothing's brand and design-led mission

How We Work

• Location: San Francisco, hybrid. You'll likely spend much of your time out with partners
• Salary range: $220K - $275K base plus equity