Partner Business Development Lead, Industries and Partnerships

Partner Business Development Lead, Worldwide Industries and Partnerships

Apple is seeking an experienced, entrepreneurial Partner Business Development Lead to build, scale, and activate strategic partnerships that drive Apple platform adoption across industry verticals. This role sits within Worldwide Industries and Partnerships and suits someone who thrives at the intersection of business development, ecosystem strategy, and enterprise technology — equally comfortable engaging a Fortune 50 systems integrator, an AI-native startup, a healthcare payer, or a venture-backed platform company.

This is a partnership origination and activation role, not traditional channel or alliance management. You'll identify where Apple has a differentiated advantage through partners, build the motions to get there, and drive measurable go-to-market outcomes across enterprise solution providers, AI frontier and AI-native companies, and industry-specific solution partners. The ideal candidate combines strong partnership instincts, fluency across multiple partner archetypes, and working knowledge of enterprise AI, with the ability to turn market opportunity into repeatable, scalable partner motions that generate real business value.

On-device AI is the defining lever today, and this role will continuously evolve Apple's partner value proposition as the platform's advantages in privacy, security, and intelligence keep expanding.

• Partnership Origination &
  
  Qualification:
  
  Identify, qualify, and prioritize opportunities across partner types using frameworks that assess strategic fit, technical alignment, and market opportunity.
• Framework & GTM Development:
  Architect repeatable partnership frameworks and joint go-to-market plans (co-sell, co-marketing, enablement, and pipeline targets) that scale across partner types and industries.
• Joint Value Proposition & Use Case Development:
  Co-develop partner-specific value propositions and validate enterprise use cases, sizing opportunities with market and revenue data.
• Partner Enablement & Activation:
  Design programs that equip partner sales/technical teams to position, demo, and deploy Apple solutions; track certification and activation velocity.
• Commercial Negotiation:
  Lead partnership agreements, revenue-sharing models, and co-development terms, balancing legal, commercial, and technical tradeoffs.
• Executive Relationship Management:
  Build trusted C-suite/VP relationships across partner organizations, serving as Apple's strategic point of contact.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  
  Partner with Industry Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and Operations to align strategy, remove blockers, and drive execution.
• Performance Measurement & Market Intelligence:
  Track partner-sourced pipeline, revenue, and activation metrics; monitor competitive and industry trends to inform strategy.

• 10+ years in business development, strategic partnerships, or ecosystem development within enterprise technology, with a track record of originating and activating partnerships that drove measurable go-to-market outcomes.
• Experience across at least three of: global systems integrators, enterprise software (ISVs), AI/ML companies, consulting firms, healthcare/fintech solution providers, or VC/PE ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to architect repeatable partnership frameworks that scale beyond individual relationships and execute joint go-to-market strategies.
• Working fluency in enterprise AI, including on-device vs. cloud architecture tradeoffs for privacy, security, and compliance.
• Strong commercial acumen: partnership agreements, joint business planning, revenue-sharing, and investment frameworks.
• Proven ability to engage and influence C-suite/VP executives and drive partner investment decisions.
• Strong analytical skills for market sizing and business-case development.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills; able to operate across a global, matrixed organization with significant autonomy in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.

• Experience in healthcare, financial services, or other regulated industries where privacy/compliance shape adoption.
• Experience with AI-native companies or AI/ML ecosystem players (model providers, app builders, infrastructure).
• Experience engaging VC/PE ecosystems to drive portfolio-company adoption or co-investment.
• Track record at a major platform company (Apple, Google, Microsoft, AWS, NVIDIA) or partnering closely with one.
• Experience designing partner programs, including certification, tiering, enablement, and success metrics.
• Global, cross-cultural partnership experience.
• MBA or equivalent preferred but not required.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $186,300 and $280,000, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications,…