Strategic Partnerships Lead

About the Position

We are seeking a Strategic Partnerships Lead to manage and grow Factory's most critical partner relationships across AI, Clouds, and key platform partners. This role involves executing a comprehensive partnerships strategy that drives meaningful impact for both Factory and its partners. Given the breadth of these relationships - spanning product, engineering, marketing, sales, finance, and legal - success requires a cross-functional approach with frequent executive visibility.

Responsibilities

• Manage and develop a portfolio of strategic partners aligned with Factory's objectives and long-term vision.
• Own the partnership roadmap with clear milestones, timelines, and success metrics (e.g., platform adoption, revenue growth, joint product launches).
• Prove out first-of-a-kind partnerships, then hand off repeatable motions to the Partner Manager to scale.
• Continuously analyze the market landscape to identify opportunities for expanding existing partnerships and driving new initiatives.
• Take full ownership of revenue, growth, and performance targets related to strategic partnerships.
• Drive day-to-day partnership strategy and execution across priority partners, coordinating with product, engineering, sales, finance, legal, and marketing to deliver outcomes.
• Execute partnership deals from partner evaluation through launch, expansion, and renewal, including integrations and commercial terms.

Partner Relationship Management

• Act as the primary point of contact for key technology and platform partners, building strong, long-term relationships that drive mutual success.
• Lead partner communications, including quarterly business reviews, planning sessions, and executive updates.
• Analyze partnership performance using data and insights to optimize outcomes and identify opportunities for expansion.
• Negotiate, renew, and scale partnership agreements to maximize value for both Factory and the partner.
• Serve as the internal advocate for partners, aligning product and cross-functional teams to partner goals and driving accountability against agreed success metrics.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Develop a deep understanding of Factory's products, ecosystem, and strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams to ensure seamless integration of partner technologies and accelerated market adoption.
• 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, upcoming launches).
• 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 sales 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.

Locations

• San Francisco, CA
• New York, NY

Employment Type

Full-time

We Offer

• Competitive salary
• Opportunity to work in a dynamic and innovative environment
• Professional growth and development opportunities

About the Company

Factory is a leading company in the technology sector, dedicated to driving innovation and growth through strategic partnerships and collaborations.