Senior Business Development & Partnerships Manager

Essential Job Duties & Functions

Build and Drive Partnership Pipeline

• Identify, prioritize, and pursue high-impact partnership opportunities aligned with company priorities
• Build and actively manage a pipeline of prospective partners within the automotive ecosystem and other strategic partnership areas
• Translate broad goals into concrete outreach strategies and partnership opportunities

Lead Partner Engagement & Progression

• Proactively initiate and lead external conversations with prospective partners
• Own the progression of partnerships from initial outreach through mid-to-late stage discussions
• Independently lead meetings, relationship development, and small to medium partnership opportunities while partnering with senior leadership on larger or more complex deals
• Maintain momentum across multiple opportunities by driving next steps, aligning stakeholders, and navigating obstacles
• Partner with senior leadership to support final negotiation and closing
• Proactively identify obstacles, surface risks to senior leadership, and propose solutions to keep partnerships moving forward

Generate Insights That Inform Direction

• Synthesize partner conversations, market signals, and internal context into clear insights and recommendations
• Use structured thinking and data to evaluate opportunities and inform decisions
• Identify patterns and opportunities that help shape partnership priorities over time

What You'll Bring

• Eight (8) or more years of experience in business development, partnerships, or a related role in a tech-forward, fast-moving environment
• Demonstrated ability to independently source and progress partnerships, creating momentum and driving work forward in ambiguous environments without defined playbooks
• Experience developing partnerships that created meaningful customer-facing value through software, platform, product, or distribution integrations — particularly within consumer technology (B2C, B2B2C), mobile app, connected device, or ecosystem-driven environments
• Strong relationship-building and communication skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders internally and externally, build trust quickly, and navigate complex organizations
• Ability to translate broad strategic direction into concrete partnership opportunities and actions, balancing big-picture thinking with hands-on execution
• Strong internal execution skills, including structured thinking, sound judgment, and comfort using data to evaluate opportunities and inform decisions
• Ability to quickly learn technical and product concepts and apply that understanding in external conversations and partnership development
• Demonstrated curiosity and initiative—you actively seek information, ask questions, and pursue opportunities without being prompted
• A strong curiosity for exploring new technologies, including AI, and identifying practical ways to apply them in workflows, partnership development, and decision-making
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Economics, Marketing, a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Permanent US work authorization
• Ability to travel quarterly for multiple days to a corporate office, partner meetings, industry events, or other strategic locations

Added Bonuses

• Experience navigating complex external organizations or multi-stakeholder partnership environments
• Familiarity with ecosystems where consumer technology, connected products, software platforms, distribution partnerships, and external integrations intersect — including areas such as automotive, mobility, mapping, navigation, or connected devices
• Experience helping drive partnership opportunities from sourcing and relationship development through execution and launch
• Experience working in high-growth or rapidly evolving technology environments
• A personal passion for outdoor recreation, adventure, or technology-enabled consumer experiences