Director, Strategic Partnerships & Alliances (AI Simulation)

Location: Remote in the United States; regular travel required for partner meetings, customer engagements, conferences, and business-development activities.

Salary: US Tier 1 $196,000–$294,000; US Tier 2 $176,000–$265,000; US Tier 3 $157,000–$235,000 per year, plus equity and performance-based incentives.

Company

SandboxAQ develops AI solutions and Large Quantitative Models for life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors; its Chemical Simulation group combines physics-based simulation, AI, materials science, and experimental validation to accelerate materials discovery and commercialization.

What you will do

• Develop and execute strategic-partnership and alliance strategies across semiconductor-critical materials, including catalysis, process chemicals, batteries, magnets, and PFAS alternatives.
• Identify, qualify, and prioritize chemical, materials, semiconductor, equipment, laboratory, manufacturing, and national-laboratory partners.
• Build relationships with senior executives, R&D leaders, technical experts, procurement teams, and business-development stakeholders.
• Translate scientific capabilities, materials-discovery workflows, and commercial objectives into partner-specific value propositions and engagement strategies.
• Lead partnerships from discovery and diligence through business-case development, negotiation, approval, launch, and expansion, including NDAs, MOUs, LOIs, joint-development agreements, statements of work, validation agreements, and licensing structures.
• Coordinate technical, commercial, legal, financial, and executive workstreams while managing milestones, data exchange, intellectual property, compliance, validation, and commercialization pathways.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, alliances, licensing, corporate development, or a related commercial role in a technical industry.
• Demonstrated success sourcing, developing, negotiating, and closing complex multi-party partnerships, preferably involving R&D, technology licensing, government funding, co-development, or technical validation.
• Strong contract and deal-structuring experience, including intellectual property, data rights, confidentiality, economics, milestones, liability, exclusivity, and commercialization terms.
• Experience translating complex technical capabilities into business value, commercial proposals, and executive-level decisions.
• Experience managing long-cycle enterprise or industrial sales and partnership processes involving multiple decision-makers and significant technical diligence.
• Strong understanding of industrial materials, chemicals, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, scientific software, or a closely related domain.
• Excellent written, verbal, and executive communication skills, with the ability to build trust across scientists, engineers, lawyers, finance leaders, executives, and external partners.
• Ability to operate independently in a high-growth, ambiguous environment and create structure where a repeatable playbook does not yet exist.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, chemistry, materials science, or a related field.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree or equivalent technical experience.
• Direct experience with semiconductor materials, process chemicals, catalysis, batteries, magnets, PFAS alternatives, specialty chemicals, or related industrial R&D markets.
• Experience with CHIPS Act, DOE, DOD, national-laboratory, BAA, OTA, SBIR, or other federally funded R&D programs.
• Experience negotiating partnerships involving government-funded research, domestic manufacturing, supply-chain resilience, or commercialization of research-generated intellectual property.
• Track record of progressing partnerships from exploratory discussions to signed agreements, technical execution, revenue, licensing, or strategic investment.
• Familiarity with technology commercialization, IP licensing, joint development, contract manufacturing, qualification, scale-up, and industrial go-to-market processes.
• Existing relationships with senior leaders in semiconductor, chemical, materials, manufacturing, equipment, or national-laboratory ecosystems.
• Experience building commercial processes, partner-management systems, or an alliances function within a growing company.

Culture & Benefits

• Remote work in the United States with flexible hybrid work arrangements.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance; 401(k) with company match; generous parental leave; and generous PTO.
• Competitive compensation with equity and performance-based incentives.
• Direct exposure to frontier AI and materials-science programs, senior scientific and executive leadership, strategic industrial partners, and federally funded R&D initiatives.
• Multidisciplinary, collaborative culture focused on belonging, respect, ownership, entrepreneurialism, and transformative impact.