Senior Manager Technology Partnerships

AutoStore™ holds a simple yet powerful vision: to store and move things for everyone, everywhere. Founded in Norway, we've grown into a global technology company. AutoStore uses advanced software to automate and orchestrate order fulfillment. Our goal is to ensure orders arrive faster than ever, with minimal environmental impact. That’s how we help brands exceed customer expectations.

We have more than 1600 systems in nearly 60 countries, and we grow continuously as a community of employees, partners, customers, suppliers, and connected technologies. Automation should make life easier, and by listening carefully to our community, we innovate to meet the industry’s most complex needs. With AutoStore™, brands gain speed, efficiency, improved workplaces, and much more floor space.

AutoStore – moving things forward.

Role overview

At AutoStore we see Technology Partnerships as a lever to expand our product portfolio towards lights-out warehouse automation and to complement our internal development capabilities. As the Senior Manager Technology Partnerships, you will establish and run the engine to make our partnership programs value-adding and repeatable. You will find the hardware and software partners that close our capability gaps, prove which ones can materially move the business, and see the approved ones through to launch and beyond.

This is a senior, self-sufficient role. You own the technology partner programs, the map of the tech landscape, partnership governance and the relationships themselves, from first contact with a partner's CEO through to recommendations at Executive Management Team (EMT) level at AutoStore.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Operationalize and evolve our technology partner program in alignment with AutoStore Product Strategy:

- Define different programs depending on the type of technology partner.

- Define an end-to-end playbook covering selection, commercial, technical, legal and support for each program.

- Set the governance framework, including decision gates, review cadence, partner tiering, and exit criteria.

- Work with AutoStore Product Business Unit Leaders, Commercial, Corporate Strategy, Solutions and Operations teams to ensure continued alignment in working with tech third parties.

Map, assess and prioritize:

- Create and maintain an overview of key technology and capability gaps in the AutoStore portfolio, in close collaboration with AutoStore Product Management and AutoStore Hardware and Software Engineering teams.

- Create and maintain a living mapped landscape of technology vendors and short-list high potential candidates to become technology partners.

- Test each opportunity for strategic fit, customer demand, market potential, technical fit, scale, partner quality and willingness to engage.

- Pursue only the partnerships that can materially move the business.

Relationship building:

- Proactively engage with identified high-potential opportunities and build trusted relationships.

- Act as the primary relationship owner with tech partner leadership, including CEOs and founders.

Technology Partnership Execution and Management:

- Build partnership plans, including market sizing, margins, ROI, support model, legal and IP frameworks, launch plans and performance measurement against KPIs you agree with Product Business Unit Leaders (ROI, revenue targets, development spend).

- Define main terms of collaboration between AutoStore and tech partners and lead contract negotiations.

- Present partnership strategy, business cases and recommendations to the EMT and senior stakeholders.

- For partnerships requiring AutoStore development, work closely with AutoStore Product Management to identify roadmap items and provide input to their relative prioritization. You also monitor the tech partner’s involvement against agreed development milestones.
- Travel expectation is 25%-30%

Key Qualifications:

- 15+ years of total professional experience, including multiple years in a technology partnerships role covering this full scope: landscape mapping, partner selection, business case, commercial model and roadmap execution.

- Experience in robotics, physical AI, warehouse automation, software/AI platforms, supply chain software and technical depth to judge technical fit and integration effort for hardware and software partners.

- A track record of partnerships you originated that reached launch and delivered measurable revenue or capability.

- Direct experience working with CEOs and founders of partner companies and negotiating at that level.

- Experience presenting strategy and partnership recommendations to executive management (EMT or equivalent) in a current or recent role.

- Strong commercial and financial skills: sizing revenue, margin and ROI, and structuring commercial models such as reseller, OEM, revenue share or co-development.

- Experience setting up partnership governance and working across Product, Engineering, Legal, Sales and Finance.

- Self-sufficient and comfortable owning work end to end with little direction, in a matrixed international company.

- Clear written and spoken communication, with the judgment to give a firm go or no-go.

We Offer:
AutoStore believes in taking care of employees and is dedicated to providing a supportive and rewarding work environment. Join us in our mission to store and move things for everyone, everywhere.

- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
- Generous Paid Time Off including 12 holidays, paid exercise time, paid volunteer time, and paid parental leave plans for all new parents
- Retirement 401(k) plan with employer match and discretionary profit sharing contribution
- Educational assistance and professional development programs, including mentorship/coaching programs with external industry leaders
- Additional benefits include Group Life Insurance, Voluntary Additional Life Insurance, Disability Insurance, Employee Assistance programs, and more!

AutoStore is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, pregnancy-related conditions, and lactation), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances.