Head of Partnerships
Ekho Dealer (YC S22)
Join us as we deploy our Tesla-like, end-to-end vehicle commerce platform across the entire industry.
Proven scale: Tens of millions in online vehicle revenue processed for 20+ leading brands in just over a year.
Trusted by all tiers: From publicly traded OEMs with billions in annual GMV to fast-growing newcomers and a broad dealer network.
Backed to win: $17.5 M raised from Activant Capital, JPMorgan Payments, Winnebago Industries, Y Combinator, the Tesla alumni fund, and other strategic investors.
Be part of the team building the infrastructure powering the next era of vehicle commerce.
Head of Partnerships
We’re looking for a strategic and execution-driven Head of Partnerships to spearhead critical integrations and ecosystem relationships that expand the value of Ekho’s platform. This is a foundational role in our go-to-market team, focused on building relationships across the vehicle sales value chain and supporting growth across new verticals.
Position Overview
This role will report to our CEO and work closely with the founders, GTM and product leadership to identify and secure partnerships that unlock growth across vehicle segments—from motorcycles and watercraft to cars and heavy machinery. These partnerships span Dealer Management Systems (DMS), lenders, backend product providers, dealer website platforms, state-level regulatory agencies (like DMVs), and other strategic software service providers in the space.
You’ll own the full partnership lifecycle—from pitching and negotiating to relationship management and long-term success. You'll be expected to understand Ekho’s product deeply, communicate integration requirements with technical clarity, and prioritize workstreams based on strategic impact and revenue opportunity.
The ideal candidate is a proactive relationship-builder, capable of navigating complex stakeholder environments and contract negotiations while keeping an eye on long-term platform value.
Required Skills & Experience
5–10+ years of experience in partnerships, strategic sales, or biz dev
Demonstrated success closing and managing complex partnership deals
Persuasive speaking skills and strong negotiation abilities
Strong organizational skills and CRM proficiency (HubSpot, or similar)
Ability to work across product, engineering, and GTM teams
Incredible work ethic and self-starter mentality
Willingness to travel to trade shows and to meet partners in person
Ability to operate autonomously in a fast-moving startup environment
Base-level understanding of vehicle sales and OEM/dealer dynamics (e.g., family runs a dealership or previous experience working in/around automotive or powersports)
Responsibilities
Identify and secure partnerships that increase the value of Ekho’s platform across key verticals
Pitch Ekho’s platform and negotiate integrations with DMS platforms, lenders, backend product providers, dealer website tools, regulatory bodies, and more
Communicate technical and operational integration requirements clearly to partners
Collaborate with engineering to scope, prioritize, and manage integrations based on customer demand and strategic value
Stay up to date on regulatory changes, industry trends, and emerging technologies across vehicle segments
Represent Ekho at industry events, trade shows, and partner meetings
Build and maintain systems to track partner engagement and integration success
Serve as the connective tissue between product, sales, and partner orgs
Preferred Qualifications
Experience in capital markets or vehicle financing
Experience working in a high-growth startup environment
Technical mindset and comfort explaining a technical product
Affinity for vehicles
A track record of building or heavily contributing to new sales or partnership processes
Experience selling to or partnering with industrial buyers
Company Benefits
Competitive compensation and equity
Health, dental
401k
Free lunch and dinners
Annual team offsite