Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Lead
Card79 | San Francisco, CA | Full-time (Flexible Hybrid)
About Card79
Card79 is a San Francisco-based product and innovation design studio shaping how people interact with emerging technologies.
We partner with ambitious startups and global brands to transform complex technologies into intuitive, compelling, and meaningful products and experiences.
Our work spans robotics, physical AI, neurotechnology, medical devices, wearables, and consumer products. We bring together industrial design, digital experience design, and strategic thinking to create products that bridge the physical and digital worlds.
We've collaborated with companies including Nike, Neuralink, Amazon, Ford, and pioneering startups to help bring ambitious ideas into the world.
We're a small, multidisciplinary team that values curiosity, creative ambition, technical fluency, and close collaboration. We embrace complexity, move quickly, and believe great work comes from combining different perspectives.
The Opportunity
We're looking for a commercially minded, relationship-driven Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Lead to help shape the next chapter of Card79's growth.
You'll work directly with the Card79 team to identify new opportunities, build relationships with emerging technology companies and established industry leaders, and turn promising conversations into long-term design partnerships.
This isn't a traditional sales role. We're looking for someone who is genuinely curious about technology, understands the value of great design, and enjoys connecting with the people building what's next.
You'll play a central role in developing our business development strategy, expanding our network, and helping position Card79 as a go-to design partner for companies developing the next generation of physical products and experiences.
The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking with a hands-on approach. You're equally comfortable researching an emerging robotics company, connecting with a founder, developing a compelling partnership opportunity, and helping shape a proposal alongside our design team.
About You
5+ years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, account growth, or related commercial roles, ideally within design, technology, innovation, or professional services.
A proven ability to generate new business opportunities, develop senior-level relationships, and turn conversations into commercial engagements.
An understanding of product development and the roles that industrial design, engineering, UX/UI, and product strategy play in bringing new technologies to market.
Strong curiosity about emerging technologies and a genuine interest in the people and companies shaping the future.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage confidently with founders, technical leaders, and executives.
Strong commercial judgment and the ability to evaluate opportunities based on strategic fit, potential value, and probability of success.
Experience managing a pipeline, developing proposals, and navigating complex client organizations.
A proactive, independent approach to identifying opportunities and making connections.
Comfort operating in a small, entrepreneurial studio where strategy and execution often happen side by side.
A collaborative mindset, with enthusiasm for working closely with designers, engineers, and creative leadership.
(Bonus Points)
An existing network in robotics, hardware, medical technology, consumer electronics, venture capital, or emerging technology.
Experience working at a design consultancy, innovation studio, engineering consultancy, or product development firm.
Familiarity with hardware commercialization, manufacturing, or bringing physical products to market.
Experience working with both early-stage startups and larger enterprise clients.
An appreciation for great industrial design and a strong perspective on how design creates business value.
What You'll Be Responsible For
Identify and develop new opportunities
Proactively identify high-potential companies, founders, and technology teams where Card79's capabilities can create meaningful value.
Focus on emerging sectors including robotics, physical AI, neurotechnology, medical technology, wearables, and advanced consumer products.
Research technology developments, investment activity, product launches, and company growth signals to identify opportunities for collaboration.
Develop thoughtful, personalized outreach strategies that connect Card79 with the right decision-makers.
Build relationships with founders, CEOs, heads of product, engineering leaders, and design executives.
Create and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified opportunities, from early conversations through signed engagements.
Build strategic relationships
Establish trusted relationships with prospective clients, understanding their technical challenges, business goals, and product ambitions.
Help prospective partners understand how thoughtful design can accelerate innovation, differentiate products, and create competitive advantage.
Develop relationships with investors, venture capital firms, technology incubators, and other ecosystem partners that can create new opportunities.
Represent Card79 at industry events, conferences, and networking opportunities.
Nurture relationships over time, recognizing that meaningful partnerships often develop through multiple conversations.
Shape and win new business
Collaborate closely with the Card79 team and design leads to qualify opportunities and develop compelling approaches to prospective projects.
Translate early conversations and complex technical challenges into clear opportunities for design collaboration.
Support the development of proposals, presentations, project scopes, and commercial agreements.
Help articulate Card79's unique combination of industrial design, UX/UI, strategic thinking, and technical understanding.
Guide opportunities through the business development process while maintaining an engaging, thoughtful client experience.
Balance commercial opportunity with creative ambition, technical fit, and the studio's capacity.
Grow existing partnerships
Identify opportunities to deepen relationships with existing clients through new projects, expanded scopes, and introductions to additional teams.
Stay close to clients' evolving product roadmaps, business priorities, and design needs.
Collaborate with the studio team to ensure a seamless transition from business development into project delivery.
Help turn successful engagements into enduring partnerships.
Help build our approach to growth
Work with the founder to refine Card79's positioning, target markets, and business development priorities.
Establish effective processes for prospect research, outreach, opportunity qualification, and pipeline management.
Track opportunities and forecast potential revenue to support studio planning.
Collaborate on targeted campaigns, thought leadership, case studies, and industry initiatives that increase Card79's visibility.
Experiment with new approaches to business development, including AI-enabled research and prospecting tools.
Bring market intelligence and client insights back into the studio to inform our strategy and future capabilities.
Why Card79?
You'll have the opportunity to work directly with our founder and a talented multidisciplinary team on projects at the forefront of emerging technology.
Unlike traditional business development roles, you'll have a meaningful voice in which companies we pursue, which opportunities we develop, and how we position ourselves in a rapidly evolving market.
You'll be part of a nimble studio where relationships matter, good ideas move quickly, and your work has a direct impact on our growth and the kinds of products we help bring into the world.
We're looking for someone who is excited not just about growing a business, but about helping shape the future of physical technology.
Compensation & Benefits
Base Salary: $130,000–$170,000 annually, plus performance-based incentives.
We offer a competitive compensation package that rewards new business development, strategic partnerships, and the growth of long-term client relationships. Compensation will reflect experience, capabilities, and the relationships a candidate brings to the role.
Benefits include:
100% employer-paid medical and dental coverage
401(k) with up to 3% company match
20 days of paid time off annually
Up to 10 additional company-wide closure days per year, including the last week of December
Flexible hybrid working model
12 weeks of paid parental leave
Annual learning and development budget
Location & Working Style
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with regular in-person collaboration at our studio and flexibility to work remotely. Attendance at client meetings, industry events, and occasional travel is expected.
