Partner Manager, Cloud Service Provider Partnerships

OpenAI OpenAI · AI Frontier · San Francisco, CA · Product Partnerships

This role focuses on managing strategic partnerships with major cloud service providers to scale the availability and use of OpenAI's models. The Partner Manager will build and lead these partnerships, ensuring strong delivery with Research, Product, and Engineering, and coordinating with GTM and Marketing. The goal is to drive customer adoption, unlock new capabilities, and extend OpenAI's platform, ultimately turning agreements into reliable launches and sustained impact. The role requires a product-focused, high-judgment senior operator with experience in cloud provider operations and complex enterprise technology partnerships.

What you'd actually do

  1. Alongside GTM and Product, lead OpenAI’s work with major cloud providers, helping inform product, engineering, and launch priorities with cross-functional partners and driving the work to measurable results.
  2. Shape the partnership operating plan for assigned cloud provider relationship: product priorities, roadmap alignment, launch milestones, partner dependencies, customer feedback loops & measures of adoption and impact.
  3. Partner closely with GTM leadership, supporting business targets and overall plan.
  4. Make it easier for customers to use OpenAI models through their cloud provider by coordinating work across APIs, model serving, security, compliance, identity, billing, reliability, and support.
  5. Drive launch readiness with cloud providers, ensuring cross-functional execution and engagement across Product, Eng. and GTM workstreams.

Skills

Required

  • Business development
  • Partnerships
  • Product strategy
  • Cloud infrastructure
  • AI platforms
  • Developer platforms
  • Enterprise software
  • Cloud provider relationships
  • Cloud marketplaces
  • Platform partners
  • Enterprise technology partners
  • Cloud provider sales and operations
  • Technical fluency
  • Cross-functional leadership
  • Commercial judgment
  • Decision making
  • Communication skills
  • Relationship-building skills

Nice to have

  • Experience working inside or closely with a major cloud provider
  • AI infrastructure company experience
  • Developer platform experience
  • High-growth enterprise technology company experience

What the JD emphasized

  • 12+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, product strategy, or similar roles in cloud infrastructure, AI platforms, developer platforms, or enterprise software.
  • Experience owning important relationships with major cloud providers, cloud marketplaces, platform partners, or other complex enterprise technology partners.
  • Clear understanding of how cloud providers sell and operate, including marketplaces, private offers, consumption-based revenue, sales incentives, partner programs, cloud commitments, and enterprise procurement.
  • Enough technical fluency to work credibly with product and engineering teams on APIs, model serving, security, compliance, identity, networking, reliability, and support.
  • Strong cross-functional leadership; able to translate between executives, product and engineering teams, legal, finance, policy, partner teams, and GTM stakeholders involved in launch execution.
  • Experience working inside or closely with a major cloud provider, AI infrastructure company, developer platform, or high-growth enterprise technology company is strongly preferred.