Strategic Partnerships Lead

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California (MO)

On-site

USD 180,000 - 260,000

Full time

6 days ago

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Job summary

Vercel is seeking a Head of Strategic Partnerships to own end-to-end partnerships in AI, cloud, and enterprise software. You will lead negotiations, drive co-sell initiatives, and shape ecosystem direction in collaboration with senior executives.

You will cultivate relationships with major partners, coordinate across Product, Engineering, Legal, and Sales, and ensure successful launches and measurable growth. Excellent communication and strategic thinking are essential for this role.

Qualifications

8+ years developing, negotiating, and executing complex commercial agreements at a platform/cloud/enterprise tooling company
Proven track record initiating partnerships with bigger companies
Experience structuring deals with significant technical surface area: platform integrations, licensing, infrastructure commitments
Ability to discuss agents, inference, model routing, and cloud infrastructure with partner teams
Experience creating and driving strategy and getting an organization to fund it
Comfortable leading cross-functional teams through Product, Legal, Finance, and Sales
Bonus: partnerships at hyperscalers or large enterprise software platforms
Bonus: licensing/OEM/embedded distribution experience
Bonus: engineering/solutions/technical product background

Responsibilities

Own a named set of strategic partnerships end to end from first conversation through signed agreement to launch and growth
Identify and develop new partnerships across AI, cloud, commerce, and enterprise software
Build business cases by sizing opportunities and scoping investment
Lead end-to-end negotiations for revenue share, embedded pricing, co-sell commitments, and marketplace terms
Develop senior relationships on the partner side and involve Vercel executives as needed
Lead cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to launch signed agreements
Advise Vercel leadership on ecosystem direction and roadmap implications
Run deals with clear milestones, success measures, and judgement to stop underperforming initiatives
Report to the Head of Strategic Partnerships

Skills

Negotiation

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic thinking

Decisiveness

Relationship building

Excellent communication

Comfort with ambiguity

Tools

Deal Structuring

Product Integration

Licensing Agreements

Embedded Product Development

Technical Surface Area Management

Job description

Own a named set of strategic partners end to end, from first conversation through signed agreement to launch and growth
Identify and develop new partnerships across AI, cloud, commerce, and enterprise software
Build business cases by sizing opportunities, scoping product and engineering investment, and recommending whether to proceed
Lead end-to-end negotiations for revenue share, embedded pricing, co-sell commitments, and marketplace terms
Develop senior relationships on the partner side and involve Vercel executives as needed
Lead cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to launch signed agreements
Advise Vercel leadership on ecosystem direction and roadmap implications
Run deals with clear milestones, success measures, and judgment to stop underperforming initiatives
Report to the Head of Strategic Partnerships

Requirements

8+ years developing, negotiating, and executing complex commercial agreements, ideally at a platform, infrastructure, cloud, or developer tools company
A track record of initiating partnerships that had no precedent, with companies significantly larger than your own
Experience structuring deals with significant technical surface area: platform integrations, embedded or whitelabeled product, licensing, infrastructure and compute commitments
Ability to hold a credible conversation with a partner's product and engineering teams about agents, inference, model routing, and cloud infrastructure
Experience creating and driving strategy, and getting an organization to fund it
Comfortable leading cross-functional teams through Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Sales
Strong agency and comfort with ambiguity
Ability to move quickly and decisively and keep large deals from stalling
Excellent written and verbal communication with executives on both sides of the table
Bonus: partnerships experience at or with a hyperscaler, frontier AI lab, or large commerce or enterprise software platform
Bonus: technology licensing, OEM, or embedded distribution agreements experience
Bonus: technical background in engineering, solutions architecture, or technical product

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in developing and negotiating complex commercial agreements, particularly in the cloud and enterprise software sectors. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive strategic partnerships with significant technical components.

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