Principal Partner Specialist, Startup Partners Center of Excellence

Amazon • Seattle, WA

8d • $176,100 - $262,000 • Remote

About The Position

This position is part of the AWS Specialist and Partner Organization (ASP). Specialists own the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for their respective technology domains, providing the business and technical expertise to help our customers succeed. Partner teams own the strategy, recruiting, development, and growth of our key technology and consulting partners. Together they provide our customers with the expertise and scale needed to build innovative solutions for their most complex challenges.

We are seeking a Principal Partner Development Specialist to own the delivery of go-to-market programs built from the AWS Partner Network (APN) that help VC-backed startups succeed in their partner journey. In this role you will serve as the single-threaded owner for GTM program delivery with 3-5 named institutional investors, managing the full engagement lifecycle: quarterly portfolio business reviews, partner enablement workshops, enterprise buyer matchmaking, coordination with investor operator teams, and startup intake and routing into appropriate coverage tiers including the AWS Global Startup Program (GSP). You will work at the intersection of venture capital, cloud technology, and partner strategy to improve the selection, onboarding, and co-sell delivery for portfolios of high-potential startups.

This is a cross-functional coordination role, requiring a mix of strategy (thinking, influencing) and delivery (doing). You will operate across sales, business development, marketing, finance, legal, and partner management to build and execute joint GTM initiatives with VC-backed portfolios. You will pair with platform and operator counterparts at investor firms and with our VC relationship manager team to run joint GTM motions, manage portfolio reviews that surface high-potential startups, and grow connections between AWS executives and investor partners. You will design scalable mechanisms that enable AWS to serve as the preferred GTM partner for the venture ecosystem, translating portfolio-level insights into startup selection strategy, enablement programming, and AWS Marketplace revenue growth.

The ideal candidate has deep experience working with venture capital firms and startup ecosystems, a track record of building strategic business development programs that deliver measurable revenue outcomes, and the ability to influence senior leaders across multiple organizations. They think at portfolio scale rather than individual transactions, communicate with equal effectiveness to investment partners, startup founders, and AWS executives, and bring an entrepreneurial orientation to building new functions from the ground up.

Requirements

• 7+ years of Go-To-Market, Business Development, Sales, or Consulting experience
• Bachelor's degree
• Experience developing, negotiating and executing business agreements
• Experience building cross-functional partnerships and influencing stakeholders across the organization to act without having a direct reporting relationship
• Knowledge of software as a service or other cloud-based technologies

Nice To Haves

• Experience as a founder or executive focused on related segments, or as a practice leader or business unit owner
• 5+ years of management consulting, strategy, technology, venture capital, or a related industry experience
• Knowledge of the AWS product suite
• Experience building, executing and scaling cross-functional programs or marketing campaigns from concept to completion
• Experience in executive level engagement with SVP/VP/C-Suite
• MBA, or Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting or related field
• Familiarity with AI tech stack, GTM motions for Frontier AI, Physical AI, and emerging technologies

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery of GTM programs with 3-5 named institutional investors (venture capital and growth equity firms), serving as the primary AWS engagement point for investor platform and operator teams.
• Drive AWS Marketplace revenue growth through structured partner onboarding pathways that startups from nomination through to co-sell program enrollment.
• Coordinate cross-functional GTM motions including enterprise buyer matchmaking events, partner enablement workshops, cohort-based education, and Marketplace acceleration for startups.
• Manage startup intake and prioritization through structured qualification, routing high-potential nominations into appropriate partner development coverage.
• Design and execute quarterly portfolio business reviews that synthesize GTM outcomes across dozens of portfolio companies into coherent narratives for investor partners and AWS leadership.
• Establish scalable playbooks, governance frameworks, and reporting mechanisms that enable the function to expand impact for the business.
• Prepare and deliver business reviews to senior leadership, translating portfolio-level performance data into strategic recommendations on resource allocation, program investment, and competitive positioning.

Benefits

• health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage)
• 401(k) matching
• paid time off
• parental leave
• sign-on payments
• restricted stock units (RSUs)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal