Data Partnerships Manager

Company Overview:

We are building Protege to solve the biggest unmet need in AI — getting access to the right training data. The process today is time intensive, incredibly expensive, and often ends in failure. The Protege platform facilitates the secure, efficient, and privacy-centric exchange of AI training data.

Solving AI’s data problem is a generational opportunity. We’re backed by world-class investors and already powering partnerships with some of the most ambitious teams in AI. The company that succeeds will be one of the largest in AI — and in tech.

We’re a lean, fast-moving, high-trust team of builders who are obsessed with velocity and impact. Our culture is built for people who thrive on ambiguity, own outcomes, and want to shape the future of data and AI.

The role

Protege is hiring a Partnerships Manager, Data Sourcing to help customers and prospects access high-value, rights-protected data quickly.

You will sit at the intersection of customers, commercial teams, Data Lab, Solutions, Operations, and external data partners. Your job will be to turn an unmet data need into a clear sourcing strategy, identify and qualify the right partners, and move the opportunity from first conversation through diligence, contracting, activation, and handoff.

This is a generalist role (with a focus in RCM) with two connected motions.

• Reactive sourcing: Respond quickly to data requests tied to active customer and prospect deals, identifying the closest-aligned vertical or partner path and driving the work toward a viable commercial outcome.

• Proactive sourcing: Build relationships with promising data holders, aggregators, brokers, and channel partners before a specific deal requires them, using customer demand, market intelligence, and Data Lab priorities to decide where to invest.

You will not be responsible for sourcing everything indiscriminately. You will use judgment to prioritize partners that are likely to create customer value, can meet Protege’s quality and rights standards, and fit our commercial model.

What you’ll do

• Translate customer and prospect data needs into clear sourcing briefs, including modality, use case, volume, format, geography, timeline, rights requirements, and success criteria.

• Source and build relationships with data holders, aggregators, brokers, channel partners, and other high-leverage supply paths across Protege’s verticals and modalities.

• Run partner discovery and qualification conversations to understand data capabilities, provenance, rights, licensing posture, exclusivity, privacy and de-identification considerations, scale, technical maturity, and commercial potential.

• Prioritize opportunities based on customer demand, strategic value, data quality, uniqueness, feasibility, and the likelihood of a sustainable commercial relationship.

• Own partner progression from first conversation through NDA, sample intake, Data Lab evaluation, feedback, diligence, deal structuring, contracting, activation, and handoff into the appropriate operating team.

• Coordinate closely with Commercial, Data Lab, Solutions, Product, Legal, and Operations so that partner opportunities move quickly without creating avoidable delivery, rights, or pricing risk.

• Support customer and prospect deals by finding viable data paths, setting realistic expectations, and keeping internal and external stakeholders aligned on next steps.

• Help structure partnerships, including licensing, channel, co-development, exclusivity, and other commercial arrangements, using Protege’s standard terms and pricing guardrails wherever possible.

• Maintain a clear, current view of partner capabilities, active sourcing requests, qualification status, samples, risks, next steps, and commercial readiness in the systems of record.

• Develop repeatable sourcing workflows, qualification criteria, partner-intake processes, and handoff standards that make the broader partnerships function more scalable.

• Bring market intelligence back to leadership, Data Lab, Product, and Commercial: what customers are asking for, where supply is emerging, how partner economics are changing, and which gaps are worth solving.

• Build trusted relationships with partners and make sure they receive clear communication, thoughtful process, and a credible path to value through Protege.

What success looks like

First 30 days: Learn the business and create visibility

• Build a clear view of Protege’s active customer and prospect data requests, current partner landscape, vertical ownership model, and sourcing-to-activation workflow.

• Meet the key stakeholders across GTM Partnerships, Commercial, Data Lab, Solutions, Operations, Product, and Legal and understand how decisions get made.

• Create a prioritized view of immediate reactive sourcing needs and proactive partner categories, with clear owners and next steps.

• Independently run initial partner discovery and qualification conversations with strong notes, judgment, and follow-through.

Days 31–60: Run the motion and move opportunities forward

• Consistently convert customer and prospect requests into actionable sourcing plans and qualified partner opportunities.

• Move priority partners through diligence, sample coordination, Data Lab feedback, and commercial evaluation with tight cross-functional coordination.

• Support active deals by identifying viable supply paths, surfacing risks early, and keeping partner and internal stakeholders aligned.

• Document the first version of reusable sourcing, qualification, and handoff workflows.

Days 61–90: Make sourcing more repeatable and commercially useful

• Establish a reliable operating rhythm for both reactive deal support and proactive partner development.

• Build a prioritized partner pipeline that reflects customer demand, strategic data gaps, partner quality, and commercial readiness.

• Progress initial partner opportunities into activation or clearly documented next decisions, including why to advance, pause, or disqualify them.

• Deliver a 90-day view of what is working, what is not, where sourcing is creating the most commercial leverage, and which systems or decisions would help the function scale.

What you bring

We care more about what you have accomplished and how you operate than about a specific career path or number of years in a role.

• Experience in partnerships, business development, strategic sourcing, enterprise sales, marketplace development, procurement, or a similarly commercial and relationship-oriented function.

• Experience working in the revenue cycle market - whether directly or as a part of larger healthcare operations

• A track record of taking ambiguous opportunities from an initial question to a concrete plan, aligned stakeholders, and measurable progress.

• Strong commercial judgment: you can distinguish an interesting partner from a partner worth investing in, and you are comfortable saying no when the fit is weak.

• Experience navigating multi-stakeholder work across external partners and internal teams, including technical, commercial, legal, and operational stakeholders.

• The ability to qualify data or technology opportunities quickly by asking practical questions about use case, quality, provenance, rights, scale, timeline, economics, and decision-makers.

• Strong written and verbal communication. You can explain nuanced data or AI training clearly to a customer, a partner, a researcher, an operator, or an executive.

• Operational rigor in pipeline and relationship management, including accurate records, clear ownership, crisp next steps, and consistent follow-through.

• Comfort working in an environment where the playbook is incomplete and priorities change as new customer demand emerges.

• A bias toward action and the persistence to keep complicated work moving without creating unnecessary friction.

• The ability to build trust with external partners while protecting Protege’s standards around rights, privacy, quality, delivery, and commercial sustainability.

Nice to have

• Experience with data licensing, AI/ML infrastructure, model development, evaluation, human data, or a two-sided marketplace.

• Existing relationships with data aggregators, brokers, expert networks, content owners, healthcare organizations, media companies, or other organizations that hold valuable real-world data.

• Experience evaluating samples or data products with technical teams.

• Familiarity with data provenance, privacy, de-identification, intellectual property, licensing restrictions, or exclusivity structures.

• Experience building partner programs, sourcing channels, pricing frameworks, qualification systems, or other operating infrastructure from scratch.

• Experience working across multiple verticals or modalities rather than owning only one narrowly defined category.

Protege Values

Pass the Loved Ones’ Test

We act with integrity and do the right thing — especially when it’s hard and no one is watching.

Always Find a Way

We are resourceful, resilient builders who solve hard problems and push through obstacles.

Go Fast and Grow Fast

Velocity matters. We move with urgency, learn quickly, and continuously improve as individuals and as a company.

Practice Kindness and Candor

We communicate directly and respectfully, building trust through honest feedback and genuine care for one another.

Deliver Together

We win as one team. Collaboration, accountability, and shared ownership drive our success.

Own the Outcome. Hone the Craft.

We take pride in our work, sweat the details, and continuously raise the bar for excellence.