Founding Partnerships Manager

Retell; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance

$70/day DoorDash credit

$200/month wellness reimbursement

$300/month commuter reimbursement

$75/month phone bill reimbursement

$50/month internet reimbursement

Job summary

Retell in San Francisco is seeking a Strategic Alliances & Partnerships Manager to help scale ecosystem partnerships and go-to-market alliances. The role involves identifying and managing strategic relationships across various technology ecosystems.

The ideal candidate will possess 3+ years in partnerships and is expected to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment. The position offers a competitive cash salary along with meaningful equity.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in partnerships or business development.
• Experience managing enterprise technology partnerships in SaaS or AI.
• Strong skills in communication and relationship management.

Responsibilities

• Identify and manage strategic partnerships across various ecosystems.
• Build and scale partnership programs that generate qualified leads.
• Develop relationships with executive-level stakeholders.

Skills

Relationship building

Commercial mindset

Negotiation

Communication

Organizational skills

Job description

About Retell Ai

Retell AI is using first principles to reimagine the call center with cutting-edge voice AI. Thousands of companies now utilize Retell’s AI voice agents to handle sales, support, and logistics calls that once required large teams of human agents. Backed by Y Combinator, Alt Capital, and other leading investors, we have scaled to $60M ARR with a team of 40 people, up from $5M at the start of 2025. Our vision for 2026 is to build a modern CX platform where entire contact centers are powered by AI. Instead of basic automation that needs constant human tuning, we’re creating intelligent AI “workers” that can act as frontline agents, QA analysts, and managers — continuously executing, monitoring, and improving customer interactions. We’re growing quickly and looking for ambitious builders who want to tackle hard technical problems, move fast, and have real impact at one of the fastest-growing voice AI startups. Let’s build the future together.

About The Role

We’re looking for a Strategic Alliances & Partnerships Manager to help build and scale Retell AI’s ecosystem partnerships and go-to-market alliances. In this role, you’ll identify, negotiate, and manage strategic relationships across cloud providers, AI platforms, systems integrators, channel partners, and enterprise technology ecosystems. You’ll work directly with founders and GTM leadership to expand Retell AI’s market reach, drive partner-sourced pipeline, and develop long-term strategic relationships that accelerate company growth. This is a highly cross-functional role that combines business development, partnerships, strategic relationship management, and ecosystem growth. We’re looking for someone who is commercially minded, highly relationship-oriented, and excited to operate in a fast-moving startup environment with significant ownership.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, source, negotiate, and manage strategic partnerships across cloud providers, AI companies, systems integrators, channel partners, and enterprise technology ecosystems
• Build and scale co-sell, referral, marketplace, and channel partnership programs that generate qualified pipeline and repeatable revenue
• Own partnership execution end-to-end, including relationship management, joint business planning, commercial negotiations, and partner performance management
• Develop and maintain executive-level relationships with strategic customers, industry leaders, and ecosystem stakeholders
• Collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, Product, and Solutions Engineering teams on joint go-to-market initiatives and ecosystem growth strategies
• Support partner enablement efforts including onboarding, training, co-marketing initiatives, and sales collaboration
• Represent Retell AI at conferences, partner events, executive meetings, and industry engagements
• Gather market intelligence, competitive insights, and partner feedback to help inform GTM and product strategy

You Might Thrive If

• You’re highly relationship-oriented and naturally enjoy building trust with customers, partners, and executives
• You’re commercially minded and excited by pipeline generation, partnerships, and business growth
• You enjoy operating in ambiguous, fast-moving startup environments with high ownership
• You’re comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• You communicate clearly and can influence both internal stakeholders and external executives
• You enjoy networking, attending industry events, and representing the company externally
• You learn quickly and enjoy understanding technical products and AI infrastructure ecosystems

Preferred Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, strategic alliances, channel sales, or ecosystem development
• Experience managing enterprise technology partnerships or GTM alliances in SaaS, infrastructure, AI, or cloud ecosystems
• Strong communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills
• Experience working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Product, and technical teams
• Strong organizational and operational skills with the ability to manage multiple partnership initiatives simultaneously
• Experience building or scaling co-sell, referral, channel, or marketplace programs

Nice to Haves

• Experience working with cloud providers or AI ecosystem companies
• Experience managing executive-level relationships and strategic accounts
• Experience operating in high-growth startup environments
• Existing network within enterprise SaaS, AI, infrastructure, or CX ecosystems

Job Details

• Cash: 170k - 230k + Meaningful Equity
• Travel: Frequent travel required for conferences, partner meetings, customer engagements, and ecosystem events
• Reporting Structure: Directly reports to company leadership and works closely with GTM, Product, and Engineering teams
• Location: Redwood City, CA, US
• US Visas: Retell AI is open to sponsoring work authorization for qualified candidates, including H1B/H-1B, TN, L-1, E-3, F-1 (OPT/CPT), and O-1 visas.

Other Benefits

• 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance
• $70/day DoorDash credit for unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks
• $200/month wellness reimbursement (gym, fitness classes, etc.)
• $300/month commuter reimbursement (gas, Caltrain, etc.)
• $75/month phone bill reimbursement
• $50/month internet reimbursement

Compensation Philosophy

• High Ownership: Small teams, rapid execution, and meaningful business impact
• Performance-Oriented: Success is measured through relationship quality, pipeline generation, and ecosystem growth
• Top Talent Density: Work alongside ambitious operators and builders at one of the fastest-growing AI startups
• Career Growth: Strong performers will have opportunities to expand into broader strategic partnerships and GTM leadership roles

Interview Process

• Recruiter Screen (15 mins): Conversation focused on communication style, relationship-building ability, startup readiness, and work expectations
• First Round (30 mins): Live business development and communication exercise focused on influence, positioning, and commercial instincts
• Second Round (30 mins): Interactive working session with our Sales team designed to evaluate relationship-building ability, strategic thinking, communication skills, and how candidates navigate real-world partnership and business conversations.
• Onsite (3 hours): Cross-functional interviews focused on strategic thinking, relationship management, execution ability, and collaboration across GTM teams