Head of Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Head of Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem will manage and grow Render's most critical technology partner relationships. This role involves building and executing a comprehensive partnerships strategy — spanning AI ecosystem integrations, hyperscalers and early bets on emerging platforms — that drives meaningful distribution and growth for Render. These partnerships touch nearly every part of Render — Product, Engineering, DevRel, and Business Development — and often involve senior stakeholders at some of the largest and fastest-moving companies in AI, so doing this well means coordinating closely across those internal teams and keeping Render's leadership regularly informed.

The ideal candidate brings real technical depth in AI and developer tooling, paired with a proven background in partner management, strong relationship-building instincts, and the executive presence to engage with partner leadership at the highest levels. You should have a deep understanding of how to build and scale product-centric partnerships — from ecosystem integrations to platform-level bets — in a fast-moving, technical market.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Map Render's technology partnership landscape across AI labs, hyperscalers, and emerging developer products, and build the strategy for where Render has the strongest right to win.

- Own outcomes for the partnerships portfolio — set clear milestones, timelines, and success metrics (e.g., ecosystem integration, developer adoption, joint launches, revenue impact) and hold yourself accountable to them.

- Drive day-to-day partnership strategy and execution, taking deals from evaluation through negotiation, launch, and renewal, including commercial terms.

- Partner closely with Product, DevRel, and Product Marketing to secure roadmap and staffing commitments, drive integration execution, and run co-marketing — and work with Finance and Legal to structure and manage commercial agreements.

- Scope and lead our thinking on building out a Render Marketplace — including the value proposition to customers and key partners, product and engineering requirements, and commercial and financial terms.

- Own ongoing relationship management for key partners — acting as their primary point of contact, running business reviews and planning sessions, driving expansion and renewal over time, and serving as their internal advocate at Render.

- Bring operating rigor to the program: track and report on partnership performance, maintain clear documentation, and keep leadership updated on progress and upcoming launches.

- Build out a team of partner managers as we scale.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

- 6–10+ years of experience in strategic or technical partnerships, business development, or product-facing roles at technology companies — ideally where partnerships were critical during a period of hypergrowth.

- A highly technical background is strongly preferred — former PM, forward-deployed engineer, or engineering experience, particularly within AI — so you can go deep with partner engineering and product teams on integration architecture, connectors, and protocols.

- Demonstrated success managing and growing complex, high-impact partnerships across AI, cloud, or developer platform ecosystems.

- Strong cross-functional operating skills, with experience working alongside Product, Engineering, DevRel, Legal, and Finance to execute complex initiatives.

- Exceptional analytical skills, with the ability to use data to drive strategic decisions.

- Outstanding communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage at the executive level.

- Strong bias for action — comfortable operating both independently and as part of cross-functional teams, in a fast-moving environment with evolving priorities.

NICE-TO-HAVES

- Hands-on experience with MCP, plugins, connectors, or app/marketplace ecosystems specifically.

- Deep familiarity with the developer tools and infrastructure landscape, and a point of view on how emerging AI-native companies find distribution.