Partner Development Manager

Partner Development Manager, Prolific For Research

Location: San Francisco (Hybrid)

Prolific

At Prolific, our marketplace is rooted in academia, and that commitment runs deep. Alongside our work to accelerate the future of AI, we're continuing to redefine how the world conducts research in industry and academic contexts.

What started as a research-driven idea has evolved into the world's most trusted infrastructure for human data. Today, tens of thousands of researchers from enterprises and top universities across the globe rely on Prolific to power their work, from peer-reviewed studies to the next generation of technological breakthroughs.

The role

We're doubling down on our mission to serve the research community, deepening relationships, building smarter tools, and making high-quality human data more accessible than ever. So we are looking for an empathetic, credible and inquisitive partnerships professional with 5+ years of building and growing revenue-generating partnerships within the research or industry. Knowledge and demonstrable experience working with platform partners in the market research, UX/product testing or user research space is a huge plus.

We have built a strong and growing partner ecosystem across the research space with platform leaders across AI-moderated research, UX/product testing and user research. Our partners include Outset and Maze. ListenLabs and Dialogue AI and as our first on-the-ground partner team hire in North America, you will work closely with partner success and partner sales to own founder and executive-level relationships with high-value research partners. You will also build Prolific's profile across the startup and scale-up ecosystem and drive meaningful revenue growth across both existing and new partnerships.

This is a high-visibility, commercially focused role that sits at the intersection of partnership growth and ecosystem development. You will be the partnership face of Prolific in the US, engaging at founder and executive level, maximizing our share of spend across the partner ecosystem, and identifying and closing the next generation of research platform partners. Success in the role is measured by performance against a combined partner team revenue target, covering growth across existing partners and new partner acquisition.

What you'll be doing

Building and Owning Senior Partner Relationships

• Lead executive and founder-level engagement across Prolific's research partner ecosystem-including heads of research, C-suite stakeholders, and founding teams/investors.
• Work closely with your partner success colleague to build deep, trusted relationships with our largest partners in North America as well as with emerging platform providers across the research and AI-moderated research space.
• Serve as the senior commercial point of contact for US-based partners, ensuring Prolific is embedded at the strategic level within key partner accounts.

Driving Revenue Growth Across the Partner Ecosystem

• Own and deliver against a combined partner team revenue target, covering growth across existing US partners and new partner acquisition in North America.
• In collaboration with partner success and partner sales, increase revenue and usage across the existing partner base by identifying expansion opportunities, deepening platform adoption, and maximising Prolific's share of spend.
• Build senior relationships with US target partners and optimise time to revenue once engagements are closed.
• Identify and pursue sales engagements with emerging partner types in the research and AI tools space.

Acting as a Strategic Partner to Key Accounts

• Develop a deep understanding of partner research workflows, business models, and growth objectives.
• Identify growth opportunities within accounts and shape how partners leverage Prolific's platform-including participant supply-to maximize value and drive usage.
• Provide strategic input that influences partner direction and strengthens long-term commercial relationships.

Building Market Presence and Ecosystem Awareness

• Represent Prolific externally at conferences, industry events, and speaking engagements relevant to the US research, AI tools, and SaaS ecosystem.
• Build Prolific's brand and credibility with founders, operators, and investors across the US startup and scale-up community.
• Identify and develop new channels, communities, and networks that expand Prolific's reach and pipeline.

Collaborating Closely Across the Business

• Work closely with partner success and partner sales colleagues to ensure a coordinated approach across the full partner lifecycle-from pipeline and onboarding through to expansion.
• Feed market intelligence, partner insights, and competitive dynamics back into product, marketing, and strategy teams.
• Act as a bridge between the US market and the broader Prolific partnership team, ensuring local context shapes global decisions.

What you'll bring

• 5+ years of experience with a demonstrable track record in a quota-carrying partner, sales, or business development role-ideally within the market research, UX/User Research, product testing, or adjacent SaaS space.
• An established network within the US research, AI tools, or SaaS ecosystem, with a proven ability to build relationships at founder and C-suite levels.
• Proven track record of meeting or exceeding revenue targets in a commercially focused partnership or sales capacity.
• Experience working with usage-based commercial models and land-and-expand growth motions.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills-as comfortable in a one-to-one exec conversation as presenting on a conference stage.
• A collaborative, low-ego working style: you build trust quickly with partners and colleagues and know how to add value across a team.
• Comfortable operating in a scale-up environment-resourceful, experimental, and energised by ambiguity.
• Willing and able to travel regularly across North America for partner meetings, conferences, and industry events.
• Knowledge of the participant/panel/recruitment market within research (desirable)

Join us to enjoy a competitive salary, benefits, and remote working within our impactful, mission-driven culture. At Prolific, our compensation packages for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. Many roles also include the opportunity to earn a cash variable element, such as a bonus or commission. Each job posting shows a salary range that reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hires, based on the role's location as well as your skills, experience, and relevant education or training. You can check the job posting's subtitle to see where the position is based. Your recruiter will also be happy to share the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

For pay transparency, the base salary range for this full-time role in the USA is $150,000 - $175,000 + OTE


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