Partner Development Manager, Provider Ecosystem

About the role

You will own the long tail of inbound and outbound provider conversations and convert them into reliable, live integrations on OpenRouter. This role requires you to be the first responder who moves quickly, asks the right questions, and ensures promising providers do not fall through the cracks. You will spend your day talking to model labs, inference platforms, and hardware providers to understand what they offer and how they can fit into the marketplace. The position is tactical and high-velocity, demanding a low-ego mindset where you execute tasks across the entire onboarding lifecycle without waiting for direction. You will gain fluency in reading API documentation and troubleshooting basic integration issues so that you can unblock technical workflows independently. By working closely with Product, Engineering, and Support, you will translate provider requirements into actionable steps that accelerate launch timelines. Ultimately, you will build the foundation for supply diversity and reliability that keeps the OpenRouter platform robust and future-proof.

Key facts

What you'll do

Field and qualify inbound provider interest across multiple channels, running first conversations to understand capabilities and separate high-signal opportunities from noise.

Source the long tail by proactively discovering emerging model developers, inference platforms, and GPU or accelerator providers to expand supply diversity.

Drive hands-on onboarding for qualified providers, guiding them from initial contact through live integration while verifying metadata and pricing accuracy.

Be technical enough to move fast by reading API docs, troubleshooting integration issues, and translating provider needs to Engineering and Product without creating delays.

Keep the pipeline moving by tracking conversations, maintaining follow-up cadence, and ensuring no opportunity stalls due to neglect or ambiguity.

Partner cross-functionally with internal teams to launch providers, communicate updates, and surface process improvements based on real-world learnings.

Qualify potential partners against OpenRouter's strategic goals, assessing fit in terms of model diversity, technical readiness, and alignment with user value.

Own scoping discussions to define integration requirements, timelines, and dependencies while managing expectations on capabilities and launch readiness.

Act as the primary point of contact for provider questions during onboarding, escalating only when necessary and ensuring timely resolution.

Continuously document learnings from provider interactions to refine onboarding flows, reduce friction, and improve the overall partner experience.

Maintain a disciplined follow-up rhythm to keep prospects engaged and informed, ensuring consistent progress through the integration pipeline.

Identify gaps in existing provider tooling or documentation and collaborate with internal teams to streamline the end-to-end experience.

Support ad hoc requests related to provider strategy, competitive analysis, and market mapping to inform broader product and partnership decisions.

Champion the provider success mindset by ensuring that once onboarded, partners are set up for stability, transparency, and long-term collaboration.

Requirements

You are plugged into the model ecosystem and follow new labs, inference providers, and hardware platforms closely so you can hold credible conversations from day one.

You are technical enough to be dangerous, comfortable reading API documentation, poking at endpoints, and troubleshooting basic integration issues without needing an engineer for every question.

You default to a tactical and high-velocity approach, moving fast, following up relentlessly, and taking pride in shipping integrations and unblocking partners.

You operate with low ego and high ownership, willing to do whatever it takes to get a provider live and successful on the platform.

You are an early-career professional who is eager to learn partnerships by building real experience through hands-on work rather than relying solely on formal background.

You communicate clearly in writing and speaking, able to convey complex ideas to both external providers and internal stakeholders with precision and empathy.

You are comfortable managing multiple conversations simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and accuracy in metadata and pricing.

You understand that success in this role depends on consistent execution, disciplined pipeline management, and a commitment to transparency with internal and external stakeholders.

Nice to have

Prior experience engaging with model labs, inference platforms, or infrastructure providers in a technical or partnership capacity.

Familiarity with common model serving formats, inference protocols, and deployment patterns used in the AI ecosystem.

Basic understanding of pricing and commercial terms in marketplace environments, including per-token or compute-based models.

Experience using collaboration tools, CRMs, and pipeline management systems to track partner progress and outcomes.

Practical notes

This is a remote position based in the United States with full-time engagement.

The role offers a competitive salary and equity, fully covered health, dental, and vision insurance, unlimited PTO, a WFH budget, and quarterly offsites as outlined in company policy.

Candidates who do not meet every requirement but are passionate about the work are encouraged to apply, as the company values learning agility and proactive problem-solving.