Dust · 3 weeks ago
Founding Partnerships Lead (US)
San Francisco
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$230K/yr - $275K/yr
5+ years expDust is a company creating a new AI operating system aimed at transforming workplace operations. They are seeking a Founding Partnerships Lead to build and scale their partner ecosystem in the US market, focusing on partnerships with technology and solution partners to drive growth and enterprise adoption.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Natural Language ProcessingTranslation Service
Responsibilities
Evolve Dust's Partner Program for North America: Launch and scale Dust's global partner program in the US market, maintaining alignment with core program frameworks while pioneering US-specific partnership models where regional market dynamics demand different approaches (sales partnerships, marketplace-led motions, and AI consulting partnerships)
Build regional partnership infrastructure and team: Create the operational machinery and hire the team to recruit, enable, and support North American partners - including regional KPIs and reporting, localized enablement delivery, partner community building, US-tailored co-selling and overall partner processes, and initial technology systems builds (such as deal registration, account mapping and more) that work for the US Sales organization
Own program maturity roadmap and collaborate on global improvements: Define and execute the North American rollout phases (Foundation → Growth → Scale → Optimization) while working closely with EU partner leadership to ensure consistency in core program elements and share regional best practices bidirectionally
Own North American partnership P&L: Drive partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline and revenue targets in the US market, with latitude to test innovative channel economics, deal structures, and go-to-market motions that maximize regional impact
Identify and recruit strategic technology partners including CRM platforms (HubSpot, Salesforce), productivity suites (Notion, Confluence, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), developer tools (GitHub, GitLab), data platforms (Snowflake, BigQuery), customer platforms (Zendesk, Intercom), and complementary AI/ML services
Manage integration partnerships with platforms critical to enterprise AI deployments in the US market
Negotiate partnership agreements including technical requirements, go-to-market commitments, marketplace listings, and revenue sharing where applicable
Coordinate with Engineering to prioritize integration roadmap based on US customer demand and business impact
Drive co-marketing initiatives including joint webinars, case studies, content, and marketplace presence
Champion partner needs to Product: Aggregate partner feedback on product gaps, feature requests, and integration priorities
Create joint value propositions: Work with partners to develop compelling customer-facing messaging and joint solution positioning
Build a network of US-based agencies, consultancies, and system integrators who consult on and implement Dust for mid market and enterprise customers deploying AI at scale
Develop certification and training programs to ensure solution partners can successfully deploy Dust agents across customer use cases (Sales, Support, Marketing, Engineering, Knowledge Management)
Create services lead distribution and deal registration processes that incentivize partner-sourced opportunities
Build quality oversight with customer feedback loops to ensure partner implementations drive adoption and customer success
Establish co-selling motions with partner account mapping, joint pursuit strategies, and sales enablement
Foster community through partner events, Slack community engagement, office hours, and ongoing education
Train internal sales teams on partner leverage: Enable the US sales organization to identify when and how to bring partners into deals
Coordinate product launches with partners: Ensure partners are briefed on upcoming features and can enable customers on new capabilities
Qualification
Required
5+ years in partnerships, business development, or channel sales in B2B SaaS, ideally in developer tools, APIs, infrastructure, productivity platforms, or AI/ML
Proven 0-to-1 program building experience - You've designed and launched partner programs from scratch, not just managed existing ones
Dual partner type experience - comfortable working with both technology/integration partners AND solution partners
Track record of results - specific examples where you built partnerships that drove measurable revenue, customer acquisition, or product adoption
Experience selling to or partnering with companies serving these ICPs: VPs/Directors of Engineering, Product, or Data & AI; CIOs, CTOs, and IT Leaders evaluating enterprise AI platforms; Operations and Enablement leaders driving productivity initiatives; CEOs/COOs at high-growth companies (Series B-D and beyond)
Strong technical literacy - can understand API documentation, integration architectures, and speak credibly with engineering teams
Developer ecosystem experience - understands how developers evaluate, adopt, and integrate AI tools
Entrepreneurial builder - thrives in ambiguity, creates structure from scratch, and moves fast with limited resources
Strategic first principles thinker - can design programs with long-term vision while executing tactical partnerships today, with a customer-centric approach at the core
Relationship builder - exceptional interpersonal skills with ability to influence partners and internal stakeholders across time zones and cultures
Data-driven - uses metrics to prioritize, makes decisions based on evidence, and reports on impact clearly
Cross-functional collaborator - works effectively with Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success
Excellent communicator - strong written and verbal communication, comfortable presenting to executives and partners alike
Preferred
Familiarity with AI/ML landscape, LLMs, or enterprise AI deployment is strongly preferred
Experience in AI, B2B SaaS, developer-first or API-first companies (Anthropic, OpenAI, Stripe, Twilio)
Background in B2B channel or ecosystem strategy at high-growth startups that scaled internationally
Familiarity with partner relationship management (PRM) tools, account mapping tools, AI and CRM systems
Prior experience hiring, mentoring, or managing partnerships team members
Network of existing relationships in the AI/ML, productivity tools, or enterprise software ecosystem
Experience with European-headquartered companies expanding into the US market
Understanding of the competitive landscape: ChatGPT Enterprise, Gemini Enterprise, Glean, Microsoft Copilot
Benefits
Significant equity package at a Sequoia-backed startup
Health benefits for you and your dependents
New MacBook Pro or Linux machine, monitor, keyboard, etc.
Opportunity to travel to the EU multiple times a year
Regular team events and off-site
Company
Dust
Dust is a modular technology platform that builds customized AI assistance to enhance and optimize workflows.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$21.54MKey Investors
Sequoia Capital
2024-06-27Series A· $16.06M
2023-06-27Seed· $5.48M
Recent News
Dynamic Business
2026-01-19
The French Tech Journal
2025-09-16
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