Strategic Partnerships

At Exa, we’re building a next-generation AI search engine—one that outperforms Google for power users. We help developers and companies find information they can’t get anywhere else: https://exa.ai/websets

We’re an SF-based team of ~65 from Harvard, MIT, Apple, Palantir, and more. We recently raised an $85M Series B from Benchmark, and we’re rapidly building the most intelligent search engine in history.

Now, we’re looking for someone to own and scale Strategic Partnerships—working across infrastructure providers, developer platforms, and key ecosystem players to expand distribution, unlock new use cases, and accelerate Exa’s growth.

This is a high-impact, high-ownership role. You’ll be shaping how Exa shows up across the AI stack.

What You’ll Do

• Own the full strategic partnerships lifecycle—from sourcing and outbound to structuring, negotiation, and launch

• Build deep partnerships with infrastructure providers, developer platforms, and AI ecosystem companies

• Identify and execute distribution opportunities that materially accelerate adoption and revenue

• Work closely with founders, product, engineering, GTM, and data teams to design win-win partnerships

• Translate technical capabilities into compelling partnership narratives and deal structures

• Negotiate commercial and technical agreements that scale with the business

• Define partnership strategy, success metrics, and long-term roadmap

Kinds of Experiences That Would Help

• 6-10+ years of relevant experience in partnerships, business development, strategy, product, or adjacent roles

• Experience owning or leading partnerships at a high-growth technology company (infra, developer tools, AI, or platforms a big plus)

• Strong deal instincts—comfortable with negotiation, ambiguity, and complex stakeholder dynamics

• Ability to quickly understand deeply technical products and communicate their value externally

• Strategic thinker who can zoom out (ecosystem strategy) and zoom in (specific deal mechanics)

• High ownership mindset—you don’t wait to be told what to do

• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, founder-driven startup environment

This is an in-person role in San Francisco. We’re happy to sponsor international candidates (e.g., STEM OPT, OPT, H1B, O1, E3). In addition to premium healthcare benefits (medical, dental, vision), we also offer fertility benefits and a monthly wellness stipend to all of our employees.