Founding Partnerships Lead (UK)

Dust

About The Position

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 Founding Partnerships Lead to build our partner ecosystem in the UK from scratch. This is a business development role at its core: your job is to identify, engage, and activate the partners who will become a meaningful source of pipeline and revenue for Dust in the UK market. We've proven the partner motion in France (€1.5M+ ARR in under a year, strong SI and reseller traction). Now we need someone to figure out what works in the UK, where the landscape, buyer expectations, and partner ecosystem are fundamentally different. This is a 0-to-1 role. There is no existing UK partner program, no playbook, no team. You'll be the first person on the ground, responsible for building relationships, closing early partnership agreements, and proving that partners can generate real pipeline for Dust. You'll work cross-functionally with Sales, Field Marketing, Growth, Community, the France Partnerships team, and the Executive Team to make this happen. All types of partnerships are in scope: resellers, system integrators, consultancies, agencies, tech alliances, affiliates, community partners, and anything else that drives results. We care about what works, not what fits a predefined category. 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 UK partnerships team. We're looking for someone who can start as a hands-on builder with the ambition to grow into a team leader.

Requirements

5+ years in partnerships, business development, or channel sales in B2B SaaS. Experience in fintech, developer tools, productivity platforms, or AI/ML is a strong plus
Proven 0-to-1 builder. You've built partner programs or BD motions from scratch, not just managed existing ones. You know what it takes to go from a blank page to real pipeline
Track record of driving revenue through partners. Specific examples where partnerships you built directly drove measurable pipeline, customer acquisition, or closed revenue
Experience working with B2B SaaS and/or Fintech ecosystems in the UK. You understand the landscape: who the key SIs, consultancies, agencies, and ecosystem players are
Cross-functional operating experience. You've worked effectively across Sales, Marketing, Product, and leadership teams in a fast-moving environment
Entrepreneurial and scrappy. You thrive in ambiguity, create structure from scratch, and move fast with limited resources. You're comfortable being a team of one before you're a team of many
Familiarity with the AI/ML landscape and enterprise AI deployment is strongly preferred
Business development instinct. You naturally think about how to turn a relationship into a pipeline source. You're not just a relationship manager; you're a dealmaker
Strategic thinker. You can zoom out to design a program with long-term vision while executing tactical partnerships today
Exceptional relationship builder. You build trust quickly with partners, internal stakeholders, and executives across cultures and time zones
Data-driven. You use metrics to prioritize, make decisions based on evidence, and can clearly report on impact
Strong communicator. Excellent written and verbal skills, comfortable presenting to executives, partners, and cross-functional teams

Nice To Haves

Existing network in the UK B2B SaaS and Fintech ecosystem (SIs, agencies, consultancies, VCs, community leaders)
Background in AI, developer-first, or API-first companies
Prior experience hiring or mentoring partnerships team members
Understanding of the competitive landscape

Responsibilities

Build Dust's UK partner ecosystem from zero. Identify, qualify, and recruit the partners best positioned to reach B2B SaaS and Fintech buyers in the UK, across any partner type
Drive partners to pipeline. This isn't about signing logos. Your success is measured by partners generating qualified opportunities, co-selling with Dust AEs, and closing deals. Own the full journey from first conversation to first partner-sourced deal
Develop and test partnership models that work for the UK market. Leverage what exists from France (program tiers, enablement, Wesype as distributor) but be willing to reinvent where the market demands it
Create activation playbooks that take partners from signed agreement to actively selling. Build the training, enablement, and co-selling infrastructure needed to make partners effective
Own UK partnership pipeline and revenue targets, with latitude to experiment with creative deal structures, incentive models, and go-to-market approaches
Work hand-in-hand with UK Sales (AEs and BDRs) to ensure partners are pipeline accelerators. Build deal routing, co-selling motions, and account mapping that the sales team actually uses
Collaborate with Field Marketing (Events, Content, Community) to build joint events, co-branded content, and community activations that serve both partner development and demand generation
Stay tightly connected with the France Partnerships team to share learnings, adapt proven playbooks, and maintain consistency where it matters
Partner with Growth Marketing to turn partner activity into scalable demand: co-hosted webinars, joint case studies, partner-led content, and event-driven pipeline
Coordinate with Product and Engineering on integration priorities, partner feedback, and joint solution development where relevant

Benefits

Competitive OTE compensation + 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 Paris HQ regularly
Regular team events and off-sites

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