Partner Director, SMB Partnerships

OpenAI • San Francisco, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

We’re hiring a Partner Director, SMB Partnerships to help scale OpenAI’s global partner ecosystem focused on serving small and medium-sized businesses through ChatGPT for Business, OpenAI’s self-serve, product-led offering and other business focused products. This role is central to expanding global distribution through partners who enable discovery, onboarding, deployment, and adoption at scale. You’ll work with a diverse set of partners — including agencies, consultancies, MSPs, and AI-native firms — to build repeatable, partner-led motions that align with a PLG model and drive broad market penetration. The role blends strategy, execution, and operations, requiring someone who can design partner programs, enable partners to operate independently, and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure seamless customer experiences. This position is based in San Francisco, CA, with in-office presence Monday through Wednesday and remote flexibility Thursday and Friday. Travel is expected ~25%.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, or a related field; equivalent practical experience welcomed.
• 8–12+ years of experience in partnerships, channel, business development, or growth roles within SaaS or product-led organizations.
• Experience building or scaling partner-led distribution models, particularly in PLG or self-serve environments.
• Strong operational instincts with experience working across systems, processes, and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to operate with clarity and ownership in fast-moving, high-growth environments.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Global mindset and comfort working with partners across regions and business models.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve partner programs that support global distribution of ChatGPT for Business to small and medium-sized customers.
• Recruit, onboard, and enable partners to drive customer acquisition, onboarding, and adoption through product-led motions.
• Develop scalable partner lifecycle frameworks across recruitment, activation, enablement, and growth.
• Create partner enablement programs, including training, certifications, playbooks, and deployment guidance aligned to self-serve and PLG workflows.
• Collaborate closely with Product, GTM Systems, RevOps, Legal, Finance, Marketing, and Support to ensure partner readiness, tooling, and operational alignment.
• Build joint go-to-market motions with partners, including referrals, co-selling, and partner-led activation strategies.
• Define and track partner performance metrics across activation, usage, retention, and expansion.
• Continuously refine partner strategy based on data, partner feedback, and evolving market needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees