Partnership Manager Lead, APAC

The Role We're hiring a Partnership Manager Lead, APAC to own and grow Mecka's APAC partnership portfolio across two distinct surfaces: Data Collection partnerships — annotation vendors, expert networks, capture-site operators, field-data partners, and BPO/operations partners who let us collect and process real-world data at scale. Robotics partnerships — robotics OEMs, hardware partners, systems integrators, and deployment partners who let us place robotic systems into real commercial environments and source platform partners for our customers. You will maintain and grow the partnerships we already have — keeping the relationships healthy, contracts current, programs delivering, and revenue compounding — while sourcing and closing net-new partnerships that open up new capacity, geographies, and capabilities. This is a hunter/farmer role, not one or the other. Equally important: this is an operationally serious role . APAC partnerships only work if the programs behind them actually run. You need the muscle to deliver on what you sign — coordinating across our operations, hardware, data, and country teams to make the partnership real, not just papered. Responsibilities Portfolio Health — Maintain & Grow Existing Partnerships Own the day-to-day health of Mecka's existing APAC partnerships across data collection and robotics — relationships, contracts, SLAs, escalations, renewals. Be the primary external face for each partner — the person they call when something is going right or wrong. Run quarterly business reviews, expand scope where it makes sense, and identify upsell/expansion opportunities inside the existing book. Catch and resolve issues before they escal... (see full text) Net-New Partnership Acquisition Source, qualify, and close new partnerships across both data collection (annotation vendors, expert networks, capture operators, BPOs) and robotics (OEMs, hardware platforms, systems integrators, deployment partners). Develop partnership theses for each APAC market — Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, India, SEA — and prioritize where to invest based on customer demand and operational fit. Run end-to-end deal cycles: outbound, qualification, term negotiation, legal, signing, kickoff. Build the pipeline that lets Mecka enter new APAC markets and modalities ahead of customer demand. Operational Execution — Make Partnerships Real Translate every partnership into an operational plan: who delivers what, on what timeline, against what quality bar. Coordinate across data operations, hardware, country leadership, and customer teams to launch and scale partner programs. Own the partner side of program delivery — capacity, throughput, quality, escal..., partnering with internal program leads who own the customer side. Pull partnerships back on track when execution slips; you do not hand off and hope. Systems & Pipeline Own the partnership CRM, pipeline, and reporting for APAC — what's signed, what's in flight, what's at risk. Build repeatable systems for sourcing, qualifying, and onboarding partners; leverage AI tools and automation where they move the needle. Capture institutional knowledge so partnerships don't live in one person's head. Report on partnership performance to Mecka leadership monthly. Cross-Functional Coordination Work closely with Country GMs (Canada, India, future APAC geos), data operations, hardware, sales, and product to align partnership strategy with what the business actually needs. Surface partnership-level signal back into product and ops — what partners are asking for, what's breaking, where capacity is constrained. Required Experience 5+ years in partnerships, business development, strategic alliances, or commercial roles — with real operational responsibility , not just deal-signing. Track record managing an existing partner book AND sourcing/closing new partnerships — both farming and hunting. Strong APAC market knowledge across multiple countries (Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, India, or SEA) — you know the players, the deal norms, and the operating pitfalls. Experience delivering complex programs through external partners — capacity planning, SLAs, escalation management, quality oversight. Comfortable operating across data, ops, and hardware contexts; you can hold a credible conversation with both a BPO operations director and a robotics OEM product lead. Strong Signals Built or scaled partnerships in robotics, AI/ML, autonomy, data labeling, BPO, or hardware ecosystems. Owned a regional partner P&L or portfolio with measurable revenue and capacity outcomes. Multilingual or culturally fluent across multiple APAC markets. Experience using AI tools and automation to scale outbound, qualification, and partner ops. Background in operations, supply chain, or program management before moving into partnerships — operational muscle is core to this role. You Are A hunter and a farmer — you don't see "managing existing partners" and "sourcing new ones" as separate skills. Operationally rigorous; you can deliver on what you sign, not just sign it. Comfortable spanning data collection and robotics partnerships, even though they require different conversations. High-context across APAC business cultures; you move differently in Tokyo than in Bangalore than in Shenzhen, and you know why. Resourceful and self-directed; you do not wait for structure. Detail-driven about contracts, SLAs, and follow-through. Why This Role Own the APAC partner portfolio for a company sitting at the center of robotics and data infrastructure — both sides of the most important industrial transition of the next decade. Run real partnerships with robotics OEMs and the operators powering global AI data — not paper deals. Build the partnership engine for a region that will be one of Mecka's largest in 24 months. High autonomy, direct collaboration with leadership, and the ability to shape how Mecka shows up across APAC. #J-18808-Ljbffr Mecka