Strategic Partnerships Manager

Parasail; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Parasail is building the inference cloud for AI-native companies. We’re hiring our first dedicated Strategic Partnerships Manager to own and expand relationships with GPU capacity providers, hardware manufacturers, and AI model companies.

You’ll inherit an active provider portfolio and take ownership of GPU rental relationships, capacity sourcing, and commercial negotiations. This hands-on role offers meaningful ownership from day one, with opportunities to shape and grow the partnerships

Qualifications

• 3–6+ years in partnerships, business development, strategic sourcing, consulting, or account management, ideally in cloud, infrastructure, semiconductors, or AI.
• Strong communication skills and confidence managing senior external relationships.
• Commercial judgment: model deal economics, weigh tradeoffs, and negotiate durable agreements.
• Familiarity with the GPU and accelerator landscape and cloud compute economics, or the ability to learn the market quickly.
• Comfort working across geographies and cultures.
• The initiative, organization, and follow-through to manage ambiguous problems independently while collaborating closely with a small team.

Responsibilities

• Own GPU provider relationships. Manage regular touchpoints, capacity availability, pricing, and rental negotiations to secure preferred access to compute as our fleet grows.
• Expand our supply options. Source, qualify, and onboard new capacity providers to diversify supply and improve commercial terms.
• Build hardware partnerships. Develop relationships with established manufacturers and emerging silicon and accelerator companies, positioning Parasail for early access to new hardware and preferred partnership terms.
• Develop model-provider partnerships. Build strategic relationships with AI model companies in the US and internationally, identifying commercial and ecosystem opportunities.
• Track commercial performance. Maintain a clear view of capacity pipeline, provider health, and rental economics against our fleet growth and financial plans.
• Represent Parasail. Participate in partner meetings and industry events domestically and internationally, pursuing new opportunities as the business evolves.

Skills

Communication skills

Deal negotiation

Strategic thinking

Independent problem solving

Education

MBA or comparable business training

Job description

Strategic Partnerships Manager

About Parasail

Parasail is building the inference cloud for AI-native companies. We bring together GPU capacity across infrastructure providers into a unified platform, helping customers deploy and scale production AI workloads with the performance, reliability, and economics they need—without managing the underlying infrastructure.

We’re expanding our fleet and building the relationships that support our next stage of growth. Partnerships are central to that work, shaping our access to compute and our opportunities across the global AI ecosystem.

The Role

We’re hiring our first dedicated Strategic Partnerships Manager to own and expand relationships with GPU capacity providers, hardware manufacturers, and AI model companies.

You’ll inherit an active provider portfolio and take ownership of GPU rental relationships, capacity sourcing, and commercial negotiations. Alongside that work, you’ll develop strategic partnerships across the AI ecosystem, working closely with company leadership.

This is a hands-on role with meaningful ownership from the start. As the business grows, you’ll have the opportunity to shape and help build out the partnerships function.

What You’ll Do

• Own GPU provider relationships. Manage regular touchpoints, capacity availability, pricing, and rental negotiations to secure preferred access to compute as our fleet grows.

• Expand our supply options. Source, qualify, and onboard new capacity providers to diversify supply and improve commercial terms.

• Build hardware partnerships. Develop relationships with established manufacturers and emerging silicon and accelerator companies, positioning Parasail for early access to new hardware and preferred partnership terms.

• Develop model-provider partnerships. Build strategic relationships with AI model companies in the US and internationally, identifying commercial and ecosystem opportunities.

• Track commercial performance. Maintain a clear view of capacity pipeline, provider health, and rental economics against our fleet growth and financial plans.

• Represent Parasail. Participate in partner meetings and industry events domestically and internationally, pursuing new opportunities as the business evolves.

What You Bring

• 3–6+ years in partnerships, business development, strategic sourcing, consulting, or account management, ideally in cloud, infrastructure, semiconductors, or AI.

• Strong communication skills and confidence managing senior external relationships, from GPU cloud operators and hardware executives to AI model teams.

• Commercial judgment: you can model deal economics, weigh tradeoffs, and negotiate agreements that hold up over time.

• Familiarity with the GPU and accelerator landscape and cloud compute economics, or the ability to learn the market quickly.

• Comfort working across geographies and cultures.

• The initiative, organization, and follow-through to manage ambiguous problems independently while collaborating closely with a small team.

Nice to have: Existing relationships with GPU providers, hardware manufacturers, or AI labs; experience working with China-based technology companies; professional working proficiency in Mandarin; or an MBA or comparable business training.

Why Join Parasail

You’ll own relationships that directly influence our capacity, economics, and growth. You’ll work closely with leadership on consequential commercial decisions and help build a partnerships function with increasing scope as the company scales.