Founding Partnerships Lead (US)
$230k - $275k USD
About Dust
We're creating a new AI operating system that has the potential to change the way companies operate. Our mission at Dust is to transform how work gets done by letting any team and employee shape the exact agents they need to accelerate their work.
With 70%+ weekly active users, people stick with Dust as much as they do with Slack and Notion. We already are a core part of their jobs.
We're at an exciting stage of our journey and growing fast. We're serving great customers like Cursor, Clay, Whatnot, and Persona, and aim to 5x our growth by the end of 2026.
Dust is a Sequoia-backed company with an experienced and determined team of optimists (coming from companies like Stripe and OpenAI) that likes to focus on users, getting great things done by shipping fast, and doesn’t take itself too seriously while doing so.
This Role
Dust is seeking a Founder Partnerships Lead to build and scale our partner ecosystem in the US market as we accelerate growth and enterprise adoption. This role will establish and grow partnerships across Technology Partners (integrations, AI/ML platforms, data providers) and Solution Partners (agencies, consultancies, implementation firms specializing in AI deployment). The ideal candidate combines hands-on partnership building with partner strategy and program building. The ideal candidate will also be able to operate effectively in a fast-growing AI company expanding internationally.
This is a 0-to-1 role where you'll build Dust's US partner ecosystem from the ground up. You'll work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, and the Executive Team to build programs that drive customer acquisition, product adoption, and revenue growth, with a focus on the mid market and enterprise AI deployment landscape.
This role has a path to leadership. As you prove out partner-market fit and demonstrate impact, there will be opportunity to build and lead a North American partnerships team. We're looking for someone who can start as a hands-on builder with the ambition to grow into a team leader.
Key Responsibilities
North American Partner Program Development & Leadership
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
Technology Partner Recruitment & Management
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
Solution Partner Recruitment & Management
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
Requirements
Experience
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)
Technical Acumen
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
Familiarity with AI/ML landscape, LLMs, or enterprise AI deployment is strongly preferred
Understanding of data governance, security, and compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA) in enterprise AI contexts
Skills & Attributes
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
Highly Valued
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 & Compensation
Competitive compensation: $230K - $275K OTE
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
Location
We're prioritizing building our team with an in-person culture at our offices in Paris and San Francisco, because we value the magic that happens when talented people work closely together.
Why Dust
We're not building yet another enterprise SaaS tool. We’re creating an AI OS that will fundamentally change how companies operate. We believe existing AI models are powerful enough to have a tremendous impact on the world (and will keep getting better). The key is building the infrastructure so they have the right context, and building the best interfaces for humans to interact with them.
We have the unique opportunity to explore and shape the way humans interact with machines while building a product we use ourselves every day.
If you're excited about crafting products that reinvent B2B software and want to join a team that combines the best of startup culture with the backing of top-tier investors, we'd love to talk.
👋 Even if you don't check every box in our requirements, we encourage you to apply. We value diverse perspectives and backgrounds, and we're more interested in your potential and passion than a perfect match to our checklist.
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Learn how we think and work.
Our product constitution: a story about our mission
Agents at Work - Latent Space podcast with our cofounder, Stanislas Polu (2024)
LLMs reasoning and agentic capabilities over time - dotAI podcast with Stanislas Polu (2024)