Sr. Technology Partner Manager, Startup Program

Databricks•San Francisco, CA

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Databricks is unifying the Neon & Databricks Startup Programs into a single, ecosystem-led motion that meets high-growth startups on Day 0 and grows with them through their natural journey from their first Postgres write to model serving, BI, and analytics at scale. We are hiring a Startup Program Lead to own the success and operation of this program end-to-end: strategy, VC and accelerator relationships, day-to-day operations, program metrics, and the ecosystem presence that keeps Databricks at the center of where the next generation of startups is building. This is a strategic product partnership motion, not an enterprise sales or business development role.

Requirements

7+ years in the startup ecosystem working directly with VCs, accelerators, or founder communities.
Strong network and credibility across VC funds, operator communities, and founder networks
PLG instincts. You are comfortable running a high-trust, low-touch, product-led motion for thousands of startups. You understand the difference between a concierge and a gatekeeper, and why that difference matters for the long-term funnel.
Operational rigor. Proficient with CRMs, partnership trackers, application pipelines, budgets, and reporting dashboards. You build simple, minimal processes that scale.
San Francisco-based. You operate on the ground, attend events, and build in-person trust. This role requires a physical presence in the SF startup community.
Strong communicator. Executive presence for exec reviews, founder-first empathy for partner and founder conversations, and crisp written communication for program comms and quarterly business reviews.

Nice To Haves

Operational experience at an early-stage venture firm or venture-backed startup.
Background in AI infrastructure, or developer tools.

Responsibilities

Own and operate the Databricks Startup Program.
Set strategy and hit targets for accepted startups, graduated ARR, partner count, and accelerator batch adoption.
Represent Databricks in the startup ecosystem.
Be a visible face of Databricks for founders in San Francisco.
Organize talks, moderate panels, and build the founder-to-founder and founder-to-investor trust that compounds over years.
Build and execute a VC ecosystem strategy.
Source partner segments (top-tier funds, seed funds, operator angels, accelerators) and develop engagement plans by stage, sector, and geo to drive intros, events, and program enrollments.
Design and run repeatable activation motions such as partner office hours, founder workshops, co-branded content, scouts programs, partner-in-residence pilots — and codify what works into playbooks that others can run.
Run monthly operating reviews with the Neon and Databricks product and developer relations leadership.
Report on impact. Track and publish ARR, partner count, acceptances, YC batch adoption, credit consumption, retention, etc.
Run experiments, measure, scale what works, and kill what does not.