About the Position

Strategic Partnerships Lead

About Factory

Our mission is to create a world where software builds and improves itself.

We build the platform for self-improving software development, helping the world's largest enterprise engineering teams turn their organizations into autonomous software factories. Customers including Nvidia, Blackstone, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Palo Alto Networks, Adobe, and T-Mobile run Factory to ship code, review PRs, run tests, and deploy continuously - getting smarter with every cycle.

In 2026, we raised $202M at a $5B valuation, bringing our total funding to over $400M. We are backed by world-class investors and operators including Khosla Ventures, Sequoia, Blackstone, Ali Ghodsi (CEO of Databricks), and Frank Slootman (Former CEO of Snowflake).

Location

San Francisco, CA; New York, NY

Employment Type

Full time

Department

Partnerships

Responsibilities

Define, build, and lead a portfolio of strategic partnerships aligned with Factory's objectives and long-term vision, including key relationships with AI frontier labs, technology platforms, and hyperscalers.
Own the strategic partnership roadmap with clear milestones, timelines, and ownership for performance (e.g., GTM, product innovation, revenue growth).
Prove out first-of-a-kind partnerships, then build the team to scale.
Continuously analyze the market landscape to identify opportunities for new partnerships, expanding existing partnerships, and driving new initiatives.
Execute partnership deals from partnership design to commercial terms and deal negotiation to renewal and expansion.
Serve as the face of Factory with key stakeholders, evangelizing and educating the market on the Factory platform.

Key Elements of the Role

Deal Strategy & Negotiation

Define and negotiate the commercial, product, marketing, and operational business terms to deliver first-of-a-kind partnerships and build scalable partner programs.
Take ownership of the expansion and renewal strategy for key partnerships.
Drive stakeholder alignment internally and externally to complete complex transactions.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Develop a deep understanding of Factory's products, ecosystem, and strategic priorities.
Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Revenue, Research, and Deployment teams to design and deliver on priority partnerships.
Work with Legal and Finance to oversee contracts, compliance, and renewals.
Partner with Marketing and Communications teams to drive joint go-to-market initiatives, co-marketing campaigns, and product launches.

Operational Excellence

Track, analyze, and report on partnership performance metrics, providing actionable insights to leadership.
Maintain accurate documentation of agreements, performance data, and key communications.
Drive internal team updates (e.g., weekly updates, executive briefs).
Identify and proactively resolve operational challenges that could impact partner success.
Ensure all partnerships align with company strategy and deliver measurable value.

Requirements

6-8+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or strategic alliances within the technology sector - ideally at companies where partnerships were critical during hyper growth.
Demonstrated success in managing and growing complex, high-impact partnerships across AI, cloud, or enterprise platform ecosystems.
Experience in high-growth startup or fast-paced technology environments.
Strong cross-functional operating skills with experience working alongside product, engineering, legal, finance, and GTM teams to execute complex initiatives.
Exceptional analytical skills with the ability to leverage data to drive strategic decisions.
Outstanding communication, negotiation, and executive relationship-building skills with the ability to engage at the C-suite level.
Strong bias for action and the ability to operate both independently and as part of cross-functional teams.
Self-directed and adaptable, comfortable operating in fast-moving environments with evolving priorities.
Consulting, investment banking, MBA, product-to-partnerships transitions, chief of staff, or government affairs backgrounds are a plus. Experience at companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Ramp, or similar hypergrowth organizations is a plus.

We Offer

Competitive salary
Opportunity to work in a fast-growing, innovative company
Be a founding member of our exceptional business development team
Work with world-class investors and operators

About the Company

Factory is a leading platform for self-improving software development, empowering enterprise engineering teams to transform their organizations into autonomous software factories. Our mission is to create a world where software builds and improves itself, and we are backed by world-class investors and operators.

Strategic Partnerships Lead

Job description