Partnerships Lead

About Vapi

Vapi is the most configurable platform for building voice agents. Our platform equips companies with everything they need—telephony, real‑time streaming, deterministic fallbacks, HIPAA/SOC2 compliance, and an AI testing suite—to launch production‑grade voice agents fast. In just 18 months, more than 300,000 developers have signed up, with over 1,500 new developers joining every day. Our mission is to make voice humanity’s default interface again by capturing nuance, emotion, and context that text alone misses. Try it now!

About the Role

Vapi is seeking an experienced Partnerships Lead to build and scale our partner ecosystem as we move upmarket with enterprise customers. This role will establish and grow two critical partner programs: Technology Partners (integrations and platform partnerships) and Solution Partners (agencies, consulting and implementation firms). The ideal candidate combines hands-on partnership building experience with program design and strategy setting capabilities and can operate effectively in a fast-growing, developer-first environment.

This is a 0-to-1 role where you'll be responsible for designing, launching, and scaling Vapi's partner ecosystem from the ground up. You'll work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Sales, Finance, Operations, Marketing and the Executive Team to build programs that drive customer acquisition, product adoption and customer success, leading to revenue and net retention growth.

What You’ll Do

• Program Development (20%)

  • Develop and own the comprehensive partner strategy for both Technology Partners and Solution Partners, aligning with Vapi's enterprise growth objectives and go-to-market priorities

  • Define program maturity roadmap: Establish clear phases (Foundation → Growth → Scale → Optimization) with distinct goals, metrics, and capabilities for each stage

  • Continuously iterate and evolve the program based on market dynamics, competitive landscape shifts, customer feedback, and program maturity metrics

  • Design and launch Vapi's Technology Partner and Solution Partner programs, including tier structures, benefits, requirements, and go-to-market strategies

  • Develop partner enablement materials including technical documentation, sales playbooks, co-marketing templates, and certification programs

  • Create partnership frameworks for evaluation, onboarding, engagement, and performance measurement

  • Build scalable processes for partner recruitment, vetting + scoring, contracting, and ongoing management

  • Establish partner reporting through a PRM: Implement systems to track partner-sourced, partner-influenced, and co-sell opportunities in CRM

  • Define success metrics and build partner scorecards and reporting dashboards to track partner pipeline, revenue attribution, and program ROI

• Technology Partner Recruitment & Management (30%)

  • Identify and recruit strategic technology partners including CRM platforms, telephony providers, automation tools, analytics platforms, customer support platforms, and complementary AI/ML services

  • Manage integration partnerships with platforms like Twilio, Make, Zapier, and others critical to enterprise deployments

  • Negotiate partnership agreements including technical requirements, go-to-market commitments, and revenue sharing where applicable

  • Coordinate with Engineering to prioritize integration roadmap based on business impact and ensure technical success

  • Partner communications: Develop partner newsletters, webinar series, and executive roundtables to keep ecosystem engaged

  • Drive co-marketing initiatives including joint webinars, case studies, content, and marketplace presence in tandem with the marketing team

  • Train sales teams on partner leverage: Enable internal sales organization to identify when and how to bring partners into deals

  • Create joint value propositions: Work with partners to develop compelling customer-facing messaging and joint solution positioning

  • Champion partner needs to Product: Aggregate partner feedback on product gaps, feature requests, and integration priorities; advocate for partner-critical roadmap items

  • Coordinate product launches with partners: Ensure partners are briefed on upcoming features and can enable customers on new capabilities

• Solution Partner Recruitment & Management (50%)

  • Build a network of agencies, consultancies, and system integrators who consult and implement Vapi for enterprise customers

  • Develop certification and training programs to ensure solution partners can successfully deploy Vapi voice agents

  • Create services lead distribution and deal registration processes that incentivize partner-sourced opportunities

  • Build quality oversight with customer feedback loops to ensure partner implementations are successful and customers are delighted

  • Establish co-selling motions with partner account mapping, joint pursuit strategies, and sales enablement

  • Foster community through partner events, community channels (such as Slack), office hours, and ongoing education

  • Partner communications: Develop partner newsletters, webinar series, and executive roundtables to keep ecosystem engaged

  • Drive co-marketing initiatives including joint webinars, case studies, content, and marketplace presence in tandem with the marketing team

  • Train sales teams on partner leverage: Enable internal sales organization to identify when and how to bring partners into deals

  • Create joint value propositions: Work with partners to develop compelling customer-facing messaging and joint solution positioning

  • Champion partner needs to Product: Aggregate partner feedback on product gaps, feature requests, and integration priorities; advocate for partner-critical roadmap items

  • Coordinate product launches with partners: Ensure partners are briefed on upcoming features and can enable customers on new capabilities

Who You Are

• 5+ years in partnerships, business development, or channel sales in B2B SaaS, ideally in developer tools, APIs, infrastructure, or AI/ML platforms

• 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

• Technical Acumen

  • Strong technical literacy - can read API documentation, understand integration architectures, and speak credibly with engineering teams

  • Developer ecosystem experience - understands how developers evaluate, adopt, and integrate tools

  • Familiarity with voice AI, conversational AI, or adjacent technologies (speech recognition, LLMs, telephony) is a strong plus

• 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

  • 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, Finance, Leadership and Customer Success

  • Excellent communicator - strong written and verbal communication, comfortable presenting to executives and partners alike

• Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience in developer-first or API-first companies (Twilio, Stripe, Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.)

  • Background in B2B channel or ecosystem strategy at high-growth startups that scaled from Series A to C+

  • Familiarity with partner relationship management (PRM) tools and CRM systems

  • Network of existing relationships in the voice AI, conversational AI, or contact center ecosystem

  • Experience managing solution partners, technology partners and also understands reseller, referral, or revenue-share partnership models

Why Vapi

• Define the future of human–AI interaction: help pioneer a new era of voice-based AI products that are transforming how people and businesses communicate

• Own meaningful work at a breakout startup: join early, take real ownership, and have a direct hand in building a category-defining company from the ground up

• Surround yourself with exceptional people: work alongside a world-class team of engineers, operators, and builders backed by top-tier investors who believe in our mission

• Accelerate your career in a high-growth environment: grow fast, take on big challenges, and unlock opportunities as we scale one of the most exciting platforms in AI

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation: includes a strong base salary and meaningful equity ownership

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision plans

• Flexible time off: take-what-you-need vacation policy with an emphasis on rest and balance

• Daily meals: catered lunches and dinners provided for in-office days

• Lifestyle & wellness stipends: monthly allowances to support rent, transportation, food, fitness, and mental well-being

• Professional development: annual learning stipends for courses, conferences, and upskilling

• Team connection: regular offsites, team events, and opportunities to build in-person relationships