VC Partnerships Lead, APAC

About The Team

OpenAI is dedicated to ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. The organization unites top scientists, engineers, and business professionals worldwide. The Go To Market (GTM) team focuses on helping customers adopt and integrate OpenAI's advanced AI products through Sales, Solutions, Support, Marketing, and Partnership experts working collaboratively.

About The Role

We are looking for a VC Partnerships Lead to join our Asia-Pacific Startups team. In this position, you will cultivate and manage significant relationships with leading venture capital firms, accelerators, and ecosystem partners to assist high-potential startups in adopting and scaling OpenAI's offerings.

Given that many key AI-native enterprises will emerge from startups, you will engage with investors, founders, and internal teams to pinpoint promising startups, support their technical and business growth, and develop repeatable programs to extend OpenAI’s regional startup influence.

This role demands a unique blend of ecosystem credibility, commercial insight, technical knowledge, and operational precision. Candidates should be adept at working with founders and investors, crafting scalable partner initiatives, and be available for frequent travel across Asia-Pacific.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain partner-level relationships with top venture capital funds, accelerators, and startup ecosystem collaborators.
• Drive adoption and revenue growth of OpenAI’s APIs and products, especially among early-stage startups.
• Collaborate with Account Directors to identify and support high-potential startup clients.
• Design and implement personalized and group technical engagements with startup teams in coordination with cross-functional teams.
• Represent OpenAI at startup events and as a speaker.
• Analyze startup ecosystem trends through both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Lead engagement initiatives targeting a broad range of early-stage companies.
• Advocate for improved startup experiences by providing product feedback based on firsthand insights.

Requirements

• Strong enthusiasm for the startup ecosystem and aiding fast-growing companies.
• Proven ownership of revenue and business outcomes.
• Experience as a venture-backed startup founder, investor, or early employee at a rapidly scaling startup.
• Technical fluency with AI technologies and the AI product landscape.
• Over 10 years managing influential external relationships including customers, partners, investors, and executives.
• Skilled in conveying technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Experience managing high-profile customer interactions such as conferences and product launches.
• Ability to gather and analyze complex market intelligence.
• Excellent public speaking capabilities.
• Proven ability to work across diverse cultures and ecosystems ranging from Japan to New Zealand to Kazakhstan.
• Preference given to those professionally fluent in regional business languages like Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean.

Ideal Candidate Traits

• A customer- and partner-focused mindset with strong relationship-building skills serving as a trusted advisor.
• A passion for AI and eagerness to educate stakeholders about AI and future planning.
• An energetic builder who thrives on establishing and executing robust processes and systems.
• A problem solver excited by complex, multifaceted challenges and willing to try novel approaches.
• A strategic thinker who plans long-term and drives organizational excellence in go-to-market strategies.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is a research and deployment company focused on developing general-purpose AI that benefits all humanity. We push AI boundaries while prioritizing safety and inclusivity. We strive to represent diverse perspectives and experiences in our mission.

We provide equal employment opportunities regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, or any legally protected characteristic.

Applicants may be subject to background checks as permitted and required by applicable laws, including Fair Chance ordinances in US jurisdictions. We accommodate applicants with disabilities upon request.

We encourage candidates to join us in shaping the future of AI for global betterment.