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.
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.
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
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
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
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)
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
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