Director Strategic Partnerships (Semiconductor)

Director of Strategic Partnerships (Semiconductor)

Summary:

• You will build and maintain strong relationships with leading AI platform companies, across their Automotive and Robotics organizations, in engineering, product, platform architecture, procurement, and executive leadership teams, within the key partner's organizations. This is a Hybrid-based position based in San Jose, CA.

Key Responsibilities:

• Represent Ethernovia as a trusted long-term technology partner and work closely with customer and ecosystem teams to position Ethernovia solutions within Automotive and Robotics reference designs and platform roadmaps.
• Coordinate cross-functionally with internal engineering, product, marketing, and executive teams to support strategic engagements and drive execution.
• Identify new partnership opportunities across adjacent product areas, emerging platform programs, developer ecosystems, and joint go-to-market initiatives.
• Provide structured market and competitive intelligence to Ethernovia leadership including insights into partner priorities, industry direction, and evolving trends in AI infrastructure, networking, robotics, and autonomous systems.
• Significant experience working with leading AI, semiconductor, or infrastructure companies and understand how large technical organizations operate and make decisions.
• Engage directly with semiconductor hardware architects, engineering teams, and senior business leaders and bring strong technical knowledge of Ethernet networking, high-speed interconnects, SerDes, PHY/MAC architectures, and sensor connectivity for AI or autonomous systems.
• Think strategically about ecosystems, platform adoption, and long-term market positioning rather than focusing only on transactions.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Semiconductor Industry Veteran: 12+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, or technical sales within Semiconductors, AI infrastructure, networking, or HPC
• Existing relationships across the Silicon Valley AI and semiconductor ecosystem
• Strong technical understanding of Ethernet networking, high-speed interconnects, SerDes, PHY silicon or sensor networking architectures
• Experience driving silicon or platform technologies into strategic customer programs or reference designs
• Proven ability to navigate large cross-functional organizations and complex partnership cycles
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field required
• M.S. or MBA preferred

Nice to Have (The "Competitive Advantage"):

• Experience with ROS / ROS2, Isaac Sim, CUDA, etc
• Understanding and experience of OSI network layers 2+
• Experience of Ethernet switches and understanding of IEEE802.1 protocols
• Experience with TSN protocols
• Experience with PCIe protocols and topologies

Personal Skills:

• Excellent communication/documentation skills with ability to discuss technical or business information from Engineering to C-suite executives
• Attention to details
• Strong internal collaboration skills across product, engineering, marketing, and executive team located throughout the world 
• Highly self-directed, organized, and proactive with strong follow-through. Able to work effectively both independently and in a team
• Ability to identify organizational dynamics and key decision makers inside large companies
• Entrepreneurial mindset with willingness to travel frequently and spend significant time onsite with partners

What You Can Expect From Ethernovia:

• Technology depth and breadth expansion that can’t be found in a large company
• Opportunity to grow your career as the company grows
• Pre IPO stock options
• Cutting edge technology
• World class team
• Competitive base salary
• Flexible hours
• Medical, dental and vision insurance for employees

Salary Range:

• The actual offered base salary for U.S. locations will vary depending on factors such as work location, individual qualifications, specializations, experience, skills, job-related knowledge, and internal equity. The annual salary range for this position is $200,000 - $275,000. The compensation package will also include incentive compensation in the form of pre-IPO ISO options, as well as eligibility for performance bonuses, in addition to base salary and a full range of medical and other benefits.

* Principals Only (No Agencies)

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