Product Partnerships Manager

About Middesk

Middesk makes it easier for businesses to work together. Since 2018, we’ve been transforming business identity verification, replacing slow, manual processes with seamless access to complete, up-to-date data. Our platform helps companies across industries confidently verify business identities, onboard customers faster, and reduce risk at every stage of the customer lifecycle.

Middesk came out of Y Combinator, is backed by Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners, and was recently named to Forbes Fintech 50 List and cited as an industry leader in business verification by digital identity strategy firm, Liminal.

 The Role:

As our newest Product Partnerships Manager, you will play a critical role in supporting Middesk's growth by helping us build a more differentiated product. You will lead vendor evaluations, build and maintain key relationships, and align partnerships with our product strategy. This role sits at the intersection of Product, Operations, and Go-to-Market teams—helping accelerate our roadmap, unlock new capabilities, and strengthen our competitive position. This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking to take ownership of key partnerships, drive meaningful impact, and enable Middesk to be at the forefront of innovation.  

We follow a hybrid work model, and for this role, there is an expectation of 2 days per week in our SF / NY offices. Candidates should be based within a commutable distance, as we believe in the value of in-person collaboration and building strong team connections while also supporting flexibility where possible.

What You'll Do:  

Lead new vendor evaluations and support build vs. buy decisions: 

• Support near-term product roadmap by working with Product/Ops to discuss potential opportunities, evaluate build vs buy paths, identify where to differentiate, and align on these decisions 

• Leverage market understanding of the vendor/solution landscape to inform each Product pod’s strategy, balancing short term wins vs long term scale and accelerating decisions

• Lead commercial and contract negotiations for partnerships and vendor relationships

• Provide input on product positioning and collaborate with Product Marketing to enable internal teams 

Manage a portfolio of existing product partners/vendors: 

• Ensure vendor performance aligns with product needs and manage escalations as they arise

• Explore innovation opportunities with existing partners, including new product offerings, co-development efforts, or exclusivity where appropriate 

• Work with internal teams to assess vendor/partner performance and run new evaluations as needed to ensure we have the best relationships in place.

• Identify and execute on opportunities to improve our GTM motions for vendor/partner products

• Manage renewals of existing vendors 

Gather market intel and identify opportunities:

• Regularly communicate competitive insights, market gaps, and emerging trends to Product pods and Leadership

• Share information on competitors, potential partners, and relevant market shifts to help guide strategic decisions

• Use market intel to identify areas where we can differentiate or gain an edge, ensuring we stay ahead of the competition

• Inform product teams about relevant partnerships, industry shifts, and new market opportunities that could influence product strategy or roadmap adjustments

What We’re Looking For: 

• 3+ years of experience in Product Partnerships, Product Management, Strategic Partnerships, or Strategy—ideally in a B2B or data-driven environment

• Experience working directly with product teams to define strategy and evaluate, implement, and manage external vendors or data solutions

• Customer oriented, with the ability to understand and anticipate needs and define product strategies and solutions to meet them

• Strong business acumen and comfort navigating commercial agreements, vendor evaluations, and build vs. buy decisions

• A cross-functional mindset, with experience working across Product, Engineering, GTM, and Operations teams

• Experience leading external conversations—from discovery and negotiation to long-term relationship management

• Curiosity about the business identity, compliance, or data infrastructure space and ability to synthesize competitive intel.

• A bias toward action, with the ability to learn quickly, assess tradeoffs, structure decisions, and move work forward independently

• Excellent communication skills—you can clearly distill value to different parties, influence internal and external stakeholders, and track details across many moving parts