Startups Program Lead

Vercel is seeking a Startup Program Lead to build lead and scale our global startup program and startup program team. This individual will own the startup program end to end leading strategy execution and team operations. They will be responsible for how the program operates scales and delivers a high-quality experience for early stage founders. They will also play a critical role in supporting our efforts to build strong partnerships with venture capital firms accelerators incubators and startup enablement programs. You’ll work closely with our Startup marketing sales partner and events teams to grow Vercel’s footprint across early-stage technology communities and identify strategic opportunities to support startup founders.

This role is ideal for someone who is deeply connected to the startup and VC community has a strong understanding of developer-first products and a track record of building and scaling programs.

• Own and lead Vercel’s global startup program strategy roadmap and execution end to end focused on early stage startups from pre-seed through Series A.
• Build manage and mentor a high-performing startup program team.
• Design and scale programs that drive adoption activation and ongoing engagement of startups building on Vercel like the Vercel AI Accelerator.
• Develop and grow relationships with venture capital firms accelerators incubators and founder communities to bring high-quality startups into Vercel’s ecosystem as customers from day one.
• Partner closely with Sales to identify high-potential startups within the program and support their progression into long term successful customers.
• Establish clear pathways from early stage adoption to deeper product usage expansion and retention and track performance across the startup lifecycle.
• Work cross-functionally with Marketing Vercel Media Partnerships and Developer Relations to integrate the startup program into campaigns content and ecosystem distribution.
• Identify opportunities to embed Vercel into the early stage ecosystem including VC platforms accelerator programs and founder experiences.
• Serve as a visible leader and ambassador for Vercel in the startup ecosystem by hosting events advising founders and building long term relationships.
• Bring insights from early stage founders and developers back into Vercel’s marketing product and go to market strategies.

• 6+ years of experience in programs partnerships or ecosystem roles ideally within a high-growth technology or developer-focused company.
• Experience building and scaling programs from 0 to 1 with clear impact on marketing growth or revenue.
• Proven experience managing or leading teams.
• Strong track record of building strategic relationships with VCs accelerators and early stage companies.
• Deep understanding of the startup ecosystem and the needs of founders and developer teams.
• Ability to engage credibly with technical audiences across Engineering Product and Design with familiarity in modern frontend technologies such as React Next.js Vite Astro and Remix.
• Strong cross-functional operator who can partner effectively with Marketing Media Sales Product and Engineering.
• Data-driven mindset with experience defining success metrics and optimizing programs based on performance.
• Excellent communication storytelling and relationship-building skills.

• Contribute to open-source projects related to modern frontend technologies (eg. React Next Vite Astro Remix etc.)
• Have existing relationships with top-tier VCs accelerators (e.g. Y Combinator Techstars) or founder communities.
• Have built applications at scale with modern frontend technologies.

• Competitive compensation package including equity.
• Inclusive Healthcare Package.
• Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
• Flexible Time Off.
• We will provide you the gear you need to do your role and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

The San Francisco CA base pay range for this role is $148000 - $185000. Actual salary will be based on job-related skills experience and location. Compensation outside of San Francisco may be adjusted based on employee location. The total compensation package may include benefits equity-based compensation and eligibility for a company bonus or variable pay program depending on the role. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process. 

Vercel is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race religion color gender expression or identity sexual orientation national origin citizenship age marital status veteran status disability status or any other characteristic protected by law. Vercel encourages everyone to apply for our available positions even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.

What We Do

From solo developers building their first app to large enterprise teams if it needs to be fast reliable and beautifully built it runs on Vercel. Our platform powers millions of deployments a day. We started with a simple belief: the web should be fast for everyone everywhere. That belief became Next.js. Then a platform. Then the infrastructure layer for the AI-native web.We are backed by the amazing team at Accel and CRV and we're headquartered in San Francisco.