Strategic Partnerships Lead

Vercel

Strategic Partnerships Lead building complex AI, cloud, and enterprise partnerships for Vercel’s agentic infrastructure platform. Driving negotiations, launches, and cross-functional growth initiatives.

Posted 9/11/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California, New York, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in developing and negotiating complex commercial agreements, particularly in the cloud and enterprise software sectors. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive strategic partnerships with significant technical components.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Complex Commercial AgreementsPartnership DevelopmentCross-Functional Team LeadershipNegotiation SkillsCloud Infrastructure Expertise

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Deal StructuringProduct IntegrationLicensing AgreementsEmbedded Product DevelopmentTechnical Surface Area Management

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationStrategic ThinkingComfort with AmbiguityDecisivenessRelationship Building

Industry Keywords

AI PartnershipsCloud ComputingEnterprise SoftwareInfrastructureDeveloper Tools

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cloud

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own a named set of strategic partners end to end, from first conversation through signed agreement to launch and growth
Identify and develop new partnerships across AI, cloud, commerce, and enterprise software
Build business cases by sizing opportunities, scoping product and engineering investment, and recommending whether to proceed
Lead end-to-end negotiations for revenue share, embedded pricing, co-sell commitments, and marketplace terms
Develop senior relationships on the partner side and involve Vercel executives as needed
Lead cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to launch signed agreements
Advise Vercel leadership on ecosystem direction and roadmap implications
Run deals with clear milestones, success measures, and judgment to stop underperforming initiatives
Report to the Head of Strategic Partnerships

Requirements

What you’ll need

8+ years developing, negotiating, and executing complex commercial agreements, ideally at a platform, infrastructure, cloud, or developer tools company
A track record of initiating partnerships that had no precedent, with companies significantly larger than your own
Experience structuring deals with significant technical surface area: platform integrations, embedded or whitelabeled product, licensing, infrastructure and compute commitments
Ability to hold a credible conversation with a partner's product and engineering teams about agents, inference, model routing, and cloud infrastructure
Experience creating and driving strategy, and getting an organization to fund it
Comfortable leading cross-functional teams through Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Sales
Strong agency and comfort with ambiguity
Ability to move quickly and decisively and keep large deals from stalling
Excellent written and verbal communication with executives on both sides of the table
Bonus: partnerships experience at or with a hyperscaler, frontier AI lab, or large commerce or enterprise software platform
Bonus: technology licensing, OEM, or embedded distribution agreements experience
Bonus: technical background in engineering, solutions architecture, or technical product

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive compensation package, including equity.
Inclusive Healthcare Package.
Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
Flexible Time Off.
We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.