Head of Strategic Partnerships

About the Role

The Head of Strategic Partnerships is responsible for driving long‑term commercial revenue for 10x Genomics through structured, multi‑year partnerships rather than transactional volume. You will identify, secure, and expand the highest‑value opportunities across the 10x portfolio, design the partnership terms and business case needed to close them, and then own and grow the relationships over time. You will do this in close partnership with cross‑functional teams and the executive leadership, bringing them in where shared ownership advances the deal.

The emphasis sits across three connected areas: partnerships across the AI ecosystem, large‑scale data generation for AI and virtual cell and tissue models, and population‑scale studies. These initiatives share a common thread. The 10x platform generates the single‑cell and spatial data that AI and data partners need at scale, and that data increasingly feeds AI‑driven drug discovery and development. This role turns that data into durable commercial value across both the AI ecosystem and biopharma.

You will also work on other complex, high‑value relationships that span regions and require a tailored business case, including agreements that go beyond standard catalog pricing. The work splits roughly evenly between business development and market development. You will build awareness and demand across the AI and biopharma ecosystem while sourcing and closing deals, some of which will land early.

You will own and grow many of the largest partnerships you put in place, pulling in others for shared ownership as deals mature.

Candidates should be self‑starters, creative deal‑makers, and strategic thinkers who are comfortable moving quickly, managing several priorities at once, and communicating credibly with every level of the organization.

• Map and prioritize target partners across the AI and biopharma ecosystem, alongside the key strategic accounts and institutions that anchor them. Build and formalize a tracking and engagement plan for the highest‑value relationships.
• Lead market development. Build awareness and demand ahead of the deals, including:
  • Growing the case for single‑cell and spatial data in biopharma AI and drug development, and helping shape how that emerging category is defined.
  • Developing and nurturing key opinion leaders whose adoption and advocacy move the market, and turning those relationships into pipeline.
• Drive commercial partnership strategy. Develop the short‑ and long‑term strategy to advance 10x's position against key initiatives, with a focus on:
  • Partnering across the organization to capture large commercial, research, and translational opportunities and collaborations.
  • Translating customer needs back to internal teams and feeding them into platform and product prioritization.
• Build the commercial framework for partnerships. Define ideal partnership terms, lifetime value modeling, and the target partners for each initiative.
• Source, structure, and close deals. Negotiate agreements that create value against 10x's strategic and financial objectives, working across Legal, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and R&D. Bring clarity to who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed on each partnership.
• Own and grow the partnerships you build. Manage the largest strategic relationships post‑signing, working with Sales and Marketing to deepen them and expand within the surrounding ecosystem.
• Work with the senior leadership team to triage inbound partnership opportunities, assess fit, and decide where to invest.

• A track record of structuring and closing large, complex, multi‑year commercial deals, not transactional orders.
• An advanced degree in genetics, genomics, or a related field, and/or an MBA, with 5+ years in the life sciences, genomics, or biopharmaceutical industries.
• Fluency in the AI and data ecosystem as it applies to biology. You understand how frontier labs, infrastructure providers, and data partners think about models, compute, and data access, and you can build a commercial relationship with a technical, AI‑driven partner rather than only a traditional life sciences buyer.…