Founding Partnership Lead (Ecosystem /… at Terminal (YC… · Toronto

About Terminal

Terminal is Plaid for Telematics in commercial trucking. Companies building the next generation of insurance products, financial services and fleet software for trucking use our Universal API to access GPS data, speeding data and vehicle stats. We are a fast-growing, venture-backed startup supported by top investors including Y Combinator, Golden Ventures and Wayfinder Ventures. Our exceptionally talented team is based in Toronto, Canada.

For more info, check out our website: https://withterminal.com

Note: This role is only available to Toronto/GTA-based candidates

About the role

We’re hiring a Founding Partnership Lead to establish Terminal’s ecosystem partnership motion from the ground up. This is a product-focused partnerships role: you will build supply-side partnerships that convert telematics feeds into broad, auditable distribution for application-ready telematics - without partners losing ownership, attribution, or control.

Partner focus:

1. Telematics service providers (TSPs)
2. Original equipment manufacturer (OEMs)
3. Enrichment Data providers

You’ll be a builder: set the strategy, close partners end-to-end, and operationalize repeatable onboarding and activation. Entrepreneurship/0→1 experience is a strong advantage; we want someone who is results-driven and comfortable with ambiguity.

What you’ll do

1) Build the partner supply pipeline + close strategic partnerships (hands-on)

• Define partner ICPs/segmentation and build a targeted sourcing plan across TSPs, OEMs, and data providers.
• Run partner deals end-to-end: discovery → technical diligence → commercial negotiation → signed agreement → launch plan.
• Negotiate data rights, attribution/provenance, permissioning/consent, auditability, SLAs, and commercialization (where applicable).
• Create crisp partner-facing materials (deck, one-pager, standard deal constructs) and internal deal review cadence.

2) Drive product-led integrations + partner activation (distribution outcomes)

• Liaison between partner needs and Terminal roadmap to ensure smooth onboarding path: technical scoping, integration approach (API/webhooks/file), auth/rate-limit alignment, mapping readiness, testing, and go-live.
• Work tightly with the Product & Integration Engineering team to ensure integrations are production-grade (retries, rate limits, schema drift handling, diagnostics, freshness/SLA reporting).
• Ensure integrations translate into real downstream consumption (insurers, fleet platforms, fuel cards, logistics/transportation platforms).

3) Build the playbook and scale the function (repeatability > heroics)

• Codify a repeatable partner operating model: lifecycle stages, onboarding checklist, standard timelines, templates, escalation paths, and partner enablement assets.
• Build lightweight instrumentation and reporting: onboarding funnel, time-to-live, activation, incident/support load, and expansion.
• Establish cross-functional rhythms so partner friction turns into product improvements (not recurring fire drills).
• Define the scaling plan (partner ops / solutions / partner engineering) and participate in hiring over time.

What we’re looking for

• 5-7 years in ecosystem partnerships, platform partnerships, API/data partnerships, or BD in a technical product environment.
• Demonstrated ability to close and operationalize partnerships (not just perform relationship management).
• Proven technical fluency: APIs/webhooks/file exports, data schemas, normalization / versioning, provenance/attribution, permissioning/consent concepts, and production reliability.
• Strong cross-functional leadership with Engineering / Legal / Commercial; you can translate ambiguity into execution.
• High ownership, bias to action, and a results-driven approach (you run to measurable outcomes).

Bonus points

• Entrepreneurship / founder experience; built a function 0→1 at an early-stage company.
• Domain familiarity: telematics, OEM data ecosystems, fleet/logistics software, insurance data workflows.
• Experience designing partner programs and standard deal constructs that scale.

What success looks like

In the first 90 days

• Build a prioritized target list and open a repeatable outreach + qualification motion.
• Drive 10-15 partner opportunities into active diligence and sign 2-3 initial partners.
• Ship v1 partner “kit”: partner deck + one-pager + standard terms outline + onboarding checklist.
• Establish weekly pipeline + onboarding cadence, and baseline metrics (time-to-sign, time-to-live, activation).

In 6–12 months

• Close 12–15 supply-side partners total (mix depends on strategy) and establish a predictable quarterly signing cadence.
• Bring median time-to-live down to ≤ 45 days and achieve ≥ 60% activation within 90 days consistently.
• Demonstrate partner program repeatability: standard terms, standard onboarding, and reduced support escalations per partner.
• Build the plan (and optionally hire) for the next function layer (partner ops / partner engineering).

Practical details

• Location: Toronto-based
• Travel: As needed for partner meetings and industry events (up to 15–25% vast majority to the US).
• Reports to: COO; tight day-to-day partnership with Engineering and other functions.