Partnerships Manager

About Inkle

Inkle is a US tax & accounting software startup based in San Francisco and Bangalore. We exclusively serve US technology startups. Were on a mission to make accounting, tax and compliance easy, scalable, affordable and on-demand for US-registered companies - using software and human services. We are a team of passionate and creative individuals who believe in the power of technology to simplify complex processes. Inkle launched in 2022, and already serves well over 500 US companies, and we’re growing fast. We’re backed by leading global VC funds.

About The Team And This Role

This is an impactful new role reporting directly to the CEO. Were looking for a manager to take over holistic oversight of our partnerships strategy (focusing on the US), which will drive our growth over the coming years. Inkle serves US startups but the way they come to us is now largely through word of mouth - but that will change. Going forward, we believe massive scale will come through partnerships and integrations with fintechs, banks, law firms, accountants, SaaS companies, accelerators and incubators in the US and beyond. This is an extremely high impact role that can change the direction of our company, and so were looking for someone who has very high self-motivation, energy and enthusiasm.

Responsibilities

Partnership Strategy

• Develop and execute Inkle’s partnerships roadmap with large banks, fintechs, captable providers, accelerators, VCs, incorporation tools, lawyers, accountants and more. Basically any org that has large portfolios of US startups.
• Directly hire and manage a team of 1-2 subordinates in the partnerships team with their daily ops and long term goals.
  
  

• Perks inbound: relentlessly hunt for valuable and beneficial perks provided by other players to our customers, and aim to cross 500 perks.
• Perks outbound: place our Inkle perk at the obvious players so that we attract more customers from their portfolios.
• Oversee perk coupons and technology around this.
• Negotiate and structure partnership agreements and maintain our existing relations.
• Work with partners where possible to integrate. An example might be Hubspot, which has an integrations appstore. Define the roadmap (with engineering/product) to integrate our software into this appstore and then figure out how to expand our customer base via this exposure.
• Then do this at scale with dozens more integrations, where we will get lots of visibility.
  
  

• Evangelise our partnerships internally to customers and to the world through newsletters, social media and more. Every day.
• Collaborate with marketing and sales teams to co-create joint campaigns with partners.
• Track and report on visibility metrics, partnership performance, ensuring ROI on collaborations.
  
  

• Drive our events strategy (our own speaker events, mixers, co-sponsored dinners).
• Getting your hands dirty with all aspects of event logistics and execution.
• Be the face of Inkle at third-party conferences in India and the US.
• Travel extensively in India and the US, but based in Bengaluru.
• Become a thought leader within the US and India startup and cross-border ecosystems.
  
  

• 4–6 years of experience in partnerships, business development, or strategic alliances, ideally in fintech, SaaS, or startup ecosystems.
• Strong understanding of the US startup ecosystem (founders, accelerators, VCs, service providers).
• Extreme proactiveness. This is the number one trait we’re looking for. We will not micromanage you - you must be a complete self-starter, and make yourself super busy and just take care of things without being asked.
• Very high attention to detail.
• Working with lots of softwares - speed is of the essence, and you must be comfortable using AI tools to get even faster.
• Communication is key: you’ll need very strong English (written and spoken) and absolute willingness to overcommunicate without being asked.
• Travel when required in India and the US, but based in Bengaluru.
• Working hours: Monday-Friday, based in our Bengaluru office, you’ll hopefully be fine to work afternoons until late nights, in order to collaborate with our SF office and customers/partners.
  
  

• Highly competitive salary: Inkle offers a competitive compensation package benchmarked to local norms in Bangalore and San Francisco.
• Stock option scheme - all Inkle employees receive generous stock options with very favourable terms.
• Health insurance - all Inkle employees are covered under Group Medical Insurance policy.
• Relocation allowance - Inkle provides a one-time expense allowance to cater for moving costs when you join the office in Bangalore.
• Inkle has a very generous leave policy. This includes 1 day of Period Leave per month for all female employees.
• Inkle employees are granted 10 work-from-home days (per year pro-rated). This is on top of their leave.
• A comfortable, fun and safe office environment in the heart of Bangalore with great transport links and eateries nearby.
• All employees receive Macbooks and external monitors as required.