Business Development Lead (Snowflake for Startups)

• The Startup Business Development Lead will be a pivotal member of a small, agile, and global team
• This role acts as a coordination overlay across Sales, Marketing, Product, AI Partnerships, Ventures, and Solutions Engineering teams, with the primary goal of targeting and winning workloads from top AI-native startups
• The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with a passion for the AI/ML ecosystem, dedicated to identifying and nurturing high-potential startups and ensuring their growth with Snowflake
• This is a business role that requires intimate understanding of evolving AI technologies
• Keys to success include proactive founder engagement, disciplined prioritization, cross-functional execution, and a commitment to measurable business outcomes
• Leverage existing networks and cultivate new relationships to secure introductions to founders of high-potential AI-native startups
• Engage founders through direct outreach, partner referrals, industry events, conferences, and targeted networking opportunities
• Create meaningful founder engagement by connecting startup needs with relevant Snowflake product, go-to-market, and customer opportunities
• Leverage technical knowledge of AI to win trust and build collaboration hypotheses
• Develop and maintain a categorized list of high-priority startups, including Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies, based on strategic importance, growth potential, funding, technology trends and alignment with Snowflake
• Continuously monitor venture funding activity, startup formation, product trends, and AI/ML ecosystem shifts to refine prioritization
• Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product, AI Partnerships, Venture, and Solutions Engineering to maintain a unified approach to startup outreach and engagement
• Allocate time strategically, with approximately 80% of efforts focused on Tier 1 startups and 20% focused on other high-potential opportunities
• Facilitate introductions between Tier 1 startup founders and Snowflake Executive Leadership Team members, meaning senior Snowflake leaders who can help deepen strategic relationships
• Provide go-to-market support by helping startups understand how Snowflake enterprise customers may evaluate, adopt, and expand startup solutions
• Support Product-Led Growth, meaning self-serve product adoption and expansion, by promoting Cortex AI products to startups not currently built on Snowflake and creating a path for them to move additional data and workloads onto Snowflake
• Collaborate with Sales and Solutions Engineering teams to help them sell Cortex AI products effectively and understand the consumption patterns, buying motions, and adoption needs of startups
• Identify and recommend high-leverage events, sponsorships, and ecosystem programs that enhance Snowflake visibility and generate quality startup leads
• Contribute to workshops, founder programming, PR initiatives, and other content that helps AI startups understand Snowflake offerings and adoption paths
• Design or support scaled events that create meaningful engagement among startups, venture firms, Snowflake customers, and internal Snowflake stakeholders
• Use measurement insights to refine startup prioritization, engagement strategy, and cross-functional operating cadence
• Track, and report progress against objectives including priority startup acquisitions, Snowflake commitment contracts, startup influenced consumption via connected apps on Snowflake etc
• Provide regular reports to management on startup engagement progress, outcomes, successes, challenges, and areas for improvement
• Work with Finance and Sales Operations to ensure accurate tracking of startup adoption, usage, commitments, and engagement metrics
• What Success Looks Like in 12 Months
• Built credible, responsive relationships with top venture capital firms and ecosystem partners who help connect with high-priority AI-native startups
• Created meaningful engagements with top-tier AI startup founders and established repeatable paths for moving priority startups toward Snowflake adoption and growth
• Led or supported scaled events and ecosystem programs that drive quality customer engagements, founder participation, and actionable follow-up
• Demonstrated innovative ideas for creating campaigns, events or business development programs that address evolving technology trends or unmet startup needs
• Created a trusted operating rhythm with Sales, Marketing, Product, AI Partnerships, Venture, Solutions Engineering, Finance, and Sales Operations
• Reports to Head, Snowflake Startups

Benefits

• Comprehensive health insurance plans
• Health savings accounts
• Robust retirement plans
• Life and disability insurance
• Weekly online lunch and learns
• Virtual workout classes
• Ergonomic work-from-home equipment
• On-demand mental health and wellness programs
• Fertility benefits and family planning resources
• Generous time-off and various leave plans
• Onsite and Remote Work
• Employee discounts and pre-tax selections
• New hire equity + Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Quarterly bonus or commission program- Experience in the AI-native startup ecosystem as a founder, operator, investor, or partner leader
• Strong familiarity with enterprise AI application patterns such as RAG, agent orchestration, tool use, evaluation, governance, and model optimization
• Working knowledge of the Snowflake AI stack, especially Cortex AI, Cortex Agents, Cortex Search, Document AI, Snowpark ML, and AI Data Cloud adoption patterns
• Experience helping technical startups refine enterprise positioning, GTM motions, and customer adoption strategy
• Proven experience supporting high-growth startups at different stages of growth, with preference for candidates who have startup operating experience or have worked closely with founders
• Comfort with ambiguity and willingness to operate strategically and tactically in a fast-paced, evolving environment
• 8+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, startup ecosystem development, venture capital, corporate venture, GTM, cloud technology, AI/ML, or a related field
• Data-oriented operating style, including the ability to define metrics, track outcomes, identify patterns, and communicate progress clearly
• Strong understanding of the AI technology stack, AI startup ecosystem, venture funding trends, cloud and data platform adoption patterns, and key product trends shaping AI-native companies
• Strong executive presence, communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage founders, venture partners, senior executives, sales teams, and technical stakeholders
• Ability to translate Snowflake capabilities into startup-relevant value propositions, including product adoption, customer access, GTM support, and workload growth
• Established network across startup founders, venture capital firms, accelerator ecosystems, enterprise technology leaders, and partner organizations
• Founder empathy and strong judgment in balancing startup needs with Snowflake business priorities, customer expectations, and internal capacity