Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager

The Zebra

3d•Remote

About The Position

The Zebra is seeking a Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager to identify, negotiate, implement, and grow high-impact partnerships that create mutual value. The role focuses on developing and growing partnerships within the SMB segment, managing inbound inquiries while also sourcing new opportunities. The position reports to the Manager of Strategic Partnerships. This hands-on role involves evaluating partnership opportunities for strategic value, negotiating terms, supporting implementation, and managing partnerships as they ramp to stable scale. The manager will collaborate with Product, Legal, Finance, Marketing, Engineering, senior leadership, and other teams to align partnership strategies with business goals and build scalable processes for identifying, qualifying, and implementing partnerships. The Zebra is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and employees work remotely across the United States. Austin-area employees may work from the office, remotely, or in a hybrid arrangement. The company cannot currently hire in Massachusetts or California.

Requirements

3–5+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or strategic sales, ideally in a fast-paced or high-growth environment.
A track record of building and scaling partnerships, launching initiatives, negotiating deals, and achieving tangible results.
Strong attention to detail and follow-through, including the ability to keep projects on track.
Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive outcomes when priorities shift or work spans multiple teams.
Strong negotiation skills and ability to structure deals that create value for The Zebra and its partners.
Excellent communication skills and ability to adapt communication style to internal teams, external partners, and executives.
Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams and guide projects from idea through execution.

Nice To Haves

Experience building a strategic partnerships function from the ground up and applying best practices to create scalable, cross-functional processes in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Source, build, negotiate, and maintain strategic relationships with partners to drive high-quality user traffic to The Zebra.
Develop and maintain expertise in positioning The Zebra’s product offerings to potential partners.
Create and implement a prospecting strategy to grow the strategic partner pipeline.
Develop and iterate on processes for involving appropriate functional teams in partnership discussions and implementation.
Vet prospective companies through phone calls and face-to-face meetings.
Monitor the competitive landscape and share findings with leadership and relevant departments.
Identify and qualify partnership opportunities, negotiate terms, support implementation, and manage partnerships through ramp-up to stable scale.
Collaborate with internal and external cross-functional teams, including Product, Legal, Finance, and Marketing, and participate in occasional executive alignment check-ins.