Lead strategic partnerships for DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud, focusing on agentic AI products. Identify and qualify partners, negotiate complex commercial deals (OEM, revenue share), coordinate cross-functional evaluation and integration, and transition partnerships to Product and GTM teams to drive platform innovation and partner-driven product features.
Dive in and do the best work of your career at DigitalOcean. Journey alongside a strong community of top talent who are relentless in their drive to build the simplest scalable cloud. If you have a growth mindset, naturally like to think big and bold, and are energized by the fast-paced environment of a true industry disruptor, you’ll find your place here. We value winning together—while learning, having fun, and making a profound difference for the dreamers and builders in the world.
DigitalOcean is architecting the AI-Native Cloud for the next generation of AI innovators, and we are seeking a driven Senior Director of Business Development to join our Strategic Partnerships team. In this high-impact business development role, you will spearhead our alignment with leaders in the AI ecosystem, forging critical product and distribution partnerships. We are looking for an expert with deep market insight into the AI landscape, specifically AI model developers, and the negotiation acumen to structure high-value, bespoke commercial agreements. As the primary architect of these partnerships, you will bridge cutting-edge AI technology with DigitalOcean’s platform. Reporting to the VP of Strategic Partnerships, you will identify new business opportunities, navigate complex negotiations to catalyze business growth, driving our trajectory as a leader in the global AI-Native Cloud market.
What You’ll Do:- Proactively identify emerging AI market opportunities and define partnership playbooks to address them.
- Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to secure alliances with premier AI technology providers, directly enhancing DigitalOcean’s AI-Native Cloud capabilities.
- Orchestrate the end-to-end evaluation of potential partners, managing all engagement facets across internal stakeholders and external executives.
- Develop and advocate for optimal business models, including marketplace, OEM, referral, or M&A, aligned with DigitalOcean’s long-term strategic vision.
- Drive the execution of commercial agreements by leading negotiations in concert with Finance and Legal teams.
- Orchestrate seamless transitions to Product and Go-To-Market organizations, ensuring the long-term expansion of new strategic partnerships.
- Strategic Partnership Velocity: Measure the quantity and caliber of new partnerships that strengthen DigitalOcean’s platform capabilities and market presence.
- Innovation Influence: Quantify the introduction of new features or products directly resulting from partnership initiatives.
- Proven expertise in building strategic technology partnerships within the AI and cloud computing sectors.
- Demonstrated success negotiating complex agreements, including OEM, revenue share, and bespoke commercial models.
- Exceptional interpersonal skills with a proven ability to influence C-suite stakeholders and articulate a transformative vision.
- Robust technical acumen with the ability to navigate and communicate sophisticated technological frameworks.
- Deep familiarity with the AI ecosystem including the AI model providers.
- Strategic mindset capable of syncing partnership initiatives with high-level corporate objectives.
- Bilingual fluency in Mandarin and English.
- $203,000 - $254,000
*This is a hybrid role
JR: 2026-8085
#LI-Hybrid
#LI-DS1
Why You’ll Like Working for DigitalOcean
- We innovate with purpose. You’ll be a part of a cutting-edge technology company with an upward trajectory, who are proud to simplify cloud and AI so builders can spend more time creating software that changes the world. As a member of the team, you will be a Shark who thinks big, bold, and scrappy, like an owner with a bias for action and a powerful sense of responsibility for customers, products, employees, and decisions.
- We prioritize career development. At DO, you’ll do the best work of your career. You will work with some of the smartest and most interesting people in the industry. We are a high-performance organization that will always challenge you to think big. Our organizational development team will provide you with resources to ensure you keep growing. We provide employees with reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education. All employees have access to LinkedIn Learning's 10,000+ courses to support their continued growth and development.
- We care about your well-being. Regardless of your location, we will provide you with a competitive array of benefits to support you from our Employee Assistance Program to Local Employee Meetups to flexible time off policy, to name a few. While the philosophy around our benefits is the same worldwide, specific benefits may vary based on local regulations and preferences.
- We reward our employees. The salary range for this position is based on market data, relevant years of experience, and skills. You may qualify for a bonus in addition to base salary; bonus amounts are determined based on company and individual performance. We also provide equity compensation to eligible employees, including equity grants upon hire and the option to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
- DigitalOcean is an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, national origin, caste, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, age, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic makeup, marital status, or military service.
Application Limit: You may apply to a maximum of 3 positions within any 180-day period. This policy promotes better role-candidate matching and encourages thoughtful applications where your qualifications align most strongly.
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