Partner Manager, AI Native Ecosystems
About Customer.io
Over 9,000 companies - from scrappy startups to global brands - use our platform to send billions of emails, push notifications, in-app messages, and SMS every day. Customer.io powers automated communication that people actually want to receive. We help teams send smarter, more relevant messages using real-time behavioral data.
About the role
Hi, my name is Marc, VP of Global Partnerships at Customer.io. A new wave of AI SaaS builders - Lovable, Vercel, Cursor, Bolt, and others - is becoming the default starting point for how software gets built, and each one is standing up its own marketplace or integration directory to connect what people build inside them to real backend services.
I'm hiring a Partner Manager, AI Native Ecosystems to make Customer.io the obvious, pre-integrated messaging and engagement layer for everything built on these platforms. This role sits at the intersection of business development and technical integration work: part of the job is identifying and recruiting the right platforms and negotiating partnership terms; the other part is working hands-on with our Product team to scope and ship the actual integration required to get listed and featured.
AI builder platforms are becoming a new front door for software creation - and a new distribution channel for infrastructure providers. Getting Customer.io natively integrated and well-positioned across this ecosystem now, while the partner programs and technical standards are still forming, is a land-grab opportunity. This role owns that land-grab end to end.
What we value
- Bias to Action: comfortable building the process, not just executing an existing one - these marketplaces and their rules are new and changing monthly.
- Cross-Functional Fluency: equally credible in a deal negotiation and a technical scoping conversation with engineers.
- Ownership: drives a relationship from first contact through signed agreement through shipped integration, without waiting to be handed the next step.
- Resourcefulness: comfortable operating without a dominant brand - you're earning the meeting, not getting it by default.
What you’ll do
- Immediate priority: optimize our existing Claude and ChatGPT integrations, including MCP discoverability and GEO (making sure Customer.io shows up when AI tools recommend a messaging/engagement platform).
- Identify and prioritize which AI builder platforms (Vercel, Cursor, Lovable, Bolt, Google, AWS, and others) are worth partnering with, working with Engineering, Design, and Product to assess technical feasibility and distribution potential, including CLI and MCP connector priorities.
- Own the full partner relationship lifecycle - outbound, negotiation, and ongoing management - from first contact through signed agreement through shipped integration.
- Negotiate commercial terms (revenue share, co-marketing, marketplace listing requirements) directly with partner and BD counterparts.
- Translate each marketplace's technical requirements into a spec and work hands-on with our engineering team to scope and ship the integration - you don't need to write the integration yourself, but you need to be fluent enough to unblock it.
- Get Customer.io listed, verified, and ideally featured in each platform's marketplace or directory, and manage the relationship as review guidelines and requirements evolve.
- Track installs, activations, and pipeline sourced from each marketplace; report on which partnerships are driving real usage versus which need renegotiation or deprioritization.
- Build the playbook as you go - there's no existing process for this at Customer.io yet, and part of the job is creating repeatable criteria (target criteria, technical requirements checklist, deal template) so new platforms can be evaluated and onboarded quickly.
What we're looking for
- 5-7 years in business development, partnerships, or platform/ecosystem roles, ideally with a developer tools, API-first, or marketplace-driven product. If you're a bit outside that range but have shipped something into a marketplace or app store, we still want to hear from you.
- A track record of getting a product listed and adopted inside another platform's ecosystem - app stores, marketplaces, or integration directories (e.g., Shopify App Store, Salesforce AppExchange, Zapier, Segment Connections, or comparable).
- Real technical fluency: you can read API and webhook documentation, understand OAuth and auth scopes, are comfortable discussing CLI tooling, and hold your own in a scoping conversation with engineers.
- Strong deal-making instincts - comfortable structuring revenue share, co-marketing, and referral agreements, and negotiating directly with partner and BD counterparts.
- Bias to action in an undefined category - these marketplaces and their rules are new and changing monthly, and this role is as much about building the process as executing it.
- An understanding of self-serve, product-led growth motions - the platforms you'll be partnering with cater primarily to small business end-customers rather than enterprise buyers, so you should be comfortable positioning Customer.io for that audience.
- Based in North America.
- Excellent cross-functional operator - you'll work closely with product, engineering, marketing, and legal to get each partnership over the line.
Compensation & Benefits
We believe in transparency. This role offers a total on-target earnings (OTE) of $166,250-$200,000 USD (or equivalent in local currency), on an 80/20 base/variable split, subject to market rate adjustment.
We know our people are what make us great, and we’re committed to taking great care of them. Our inclusive benefits package supports your well-being and growth, including 100% coverage of medical, dental, vision, mental health, and supplemental insurance premiums for you and your family. We also offer 16 weeks paid parental leave, unlimited PTO, stipends for remote work and wellness, a professional development budget, and more.
Our Process
No gotchas, no trick questions - just a clear, human process designed to help both of us make an informed decision.
- 30-minute video call with a Recruiter
- 30-minute video call with the Hiring Manager
- Two 30-minute 1:1 conversations with cross-functional team members
- Project-based case review
- Final conversation with a senior stakeholder
All final candidates will be asked to complete a background check and employment verifications as part of our pre-employment process.
Customer.io recognizes the stifling impact of systemic injustice on diverse communities. We commit to using our influence to increase inclusion and equity within the tech industry. We strive to build an inclusive team culture, implement bias-free hiring practices, and develop community partnerships to expand our global impact.
Zoom is the only video conference platform that we use, virtual interviews will be conducted using the video capability (i.e., not via the chat), and offers will be extended in writing on official Customer.io letterhead. Please be vigilant in all of your job search activity, and if you have any questions please contact [email protected].
Join us!
Check out our careers page for more information about why you should come work with us! We believe in empathy, transparency, responsibility, and, yes, a little awkwardness. If you’re excited by what you read - apply now.