Technical Partnerships Lead

Instawork; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible paid time off

Medical, dental, and vision plans

401(k) plan

Job summary

Instawork is seeking a Robotics Tech Partnerships Lead in San Francisco, CA. The role involves managing relationships with robotics labs, focusing on technology strategy and business development.

Ideal candidates have over 5 years of professional experience in partnerships and strong knowledge in robotics. This position offers a competitive salary and benefits, including flexible paid time off, stock options, and health coverage.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years' experience in partnerships or account management.
• Strong communication skills to translate client needs into actionable plans.
• Experience with robotics or AI technology preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage partnerships with leading robotics labs to influence training data strategies.
• Drive technology strategy based on partners' unique research directions.
• Develop new business opportunities by attending relevant conferences.

Skills

Partnership management

Product management

Strategy and planning

Data operations

Robotics knowledge

Tools

AI tools (Cursor, Claude Code)

Job description

Job Summary

The Instawork Robotics Tech Partnerships Lead will be responsible for all aspects of the relationship with our partners in the robotics space.

Who You Are

• A mid‑career leader with at least 5 years of professional experience in partnerships, product management, strategy and planning, or account management, excluding internships.
• A technologist who is equally comfortable discussing best practices with robotics researchers and negotiating timelines and deliverables with purchasing executives.
• A robotics geek who enjoys tracking the latest in VLA research and robot learning approaches and wants to advance the frontier of physical AI.
• An communicator who translates client needs into plans and requirements for Instawork and compellingly articulates to partners the services and selling points that make us unique.
• A problem‑solver who enjoys building new‑to‑world systems, taking projects from zero to one, and applying creativity and grit to create value for our robotics partners.

Nice to Have

• Experience working in data ops or account management for large AI labs and/or robotics labs, or experience selling and servicing those labs.
• Experience at an early‑stage or mid‑stage startup.
• A strong network in the robotics industry.
• Comfort building with AI tools like Cursor and Claude Code.

What You’ll Do

• Partnership Account Management – Work closely with researchers and business leaders at leading robotics labs to understand and influence their robot training data strategies.
• Technology Strategy – Identify the unique direction of your partners’ research teams, and create and drive the technical requirements that tell IRL what we need to build to exceed their needs.
• Business development – Identify or create new opportunities for IRL to serve partners in robotics and physical AI by attending conferences, meet‑ups, and other high‑touch business‑development opportunities.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration – Coordinate with robotics leadership, data ops, QA, and other engineering teams to ensure exceptional data and service quality.

Compensation & Benefits (CA)

• Base salary: $160k – $240k
• Equity: Stock options
• Medical, dental, and vision plans (coverage begins on date of hire)
• Flexible paid time off
• At least 8 paid company holidays annually
• Phone stipend
• Commuter stipend
• Supplemental pay on qualified leaves
• Employee health savings account (HSA) contribution
• Flexible spending plan
• 401(k) plan
• Perkspot discount program through Lumity

Equal Opportunity Employer

Instawork is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other protected class in accordance with applicable laws.