Federal Partner Manager

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Deepgram is the leading platform underpinning the emerging trillion-dollar Voice AI economy, providing real-time APIs for speech-to-text (STT), text-to-speech (TTS), and building production-grade voice agents at scale. More than 200,000 developers and 1,300+ organizations build voice offerings that are ‘Powered by Deepgram’, including Twilio, Cloudflare, Sierra, Decagon, Vapi, Daily, Cresta, Granola, and Jack in the Box. Deepgram’s voice-native foundation models are accessed through cloud APIs or as self-hosted and on-premises software, with unmatched accuracy, low latency, and cost efficiency. Backed by a recent Series C led by leading global investors and strategic partners, Deepgram has processed over 50,000 years of audio and transcribed more than 1 trillion words. There is no organization in the world that understands voice better than Deepgram.

COMPANY OPERATING RHYTHM

At Deepgram, we expect an AI-first mindset—AI use and comfort aren’t optional, they’re core to how we operate, innovate, and measure performance.

Every team member who works at Deepgram is expected to actively use and experiment with advanced AI tools, and even build your own into your everyday work. We measure how effectively AI is applied to deliver results, and consistent, creative use of the latest AI capabilities is key to success here. Candidates should be comfortable adopting new models and modes quickly, integrating AI into their workflows, and continuously pushing the boundaries of what these technologies can do.

Additionally, we move at the pace of AI. Change is rapid, and you can expect your day-to-day work to evolve just as quickly. This may not be the right role if you’re not excited to experiment, adapt, think on your feet, and learn constantly, or if you’re seeking something highly prescriptive with a traditional 9-to-5.

Deepgram is the Voice AI platform powering the next generation of mission-critical government systems, including contact center modernization, benefits and case processing, and real-time speech applications across Defense, Federal Civilian, Intelligence Community, and State, Local, and Education (SLED) agencies. As we scale our federal footprint, Systems Integrators and Primes, cloud hyperscalers, and channel partners are our highest-leverage route to market. Our partners sit at the center of the AI modernization programs happening inside every federal agency. We are hiring a Federal Partner Manager to build, grow, and scale Deepgram's federal partner network from the ground up.

This is a builder role. You will own the strategy and execution for our named Systems Integrator and Prime practices alongside strategic hyperscaler alliances and channel partners, and you will define what a world-class AI-native federal partner motion looks like at Deepgram. You will design and drive sell-to, sell-through, and sell-with motions, land joint solutions inside each partner's delivery and capture organization, and deliver measurable partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue. You will not run a traditional partner program. You will run an AI-first approach: leveraging agents, automation, and data to operate at 10x the scale of a conventional federal alliances team.

If you are a partner leader who thrives on whitespace, has a proven record scaling federal SI/prime and hyperscaler relationships from zero, and genuinely wants to use AI to reinvent how federal partner GTM is done, this role is for you.

What you'll do

• Work closely with the VP of Federal and own the federal partner strategy end-to-end. Build and execute the named-account strategy for federal and strategic hyperscaler partners; including joint value propositions, partner account plans, solution plays, and governance cadences with each partner's alliances and delivery leadership.

• Drive sell-to, sell-through, and sell-with motions:

• Sell-to: Land Deepgram as the embedded speech/voice AI layer inside each SI/prime's own AI platforms, mission software factories, and delivery accelerators.

• Sell-through: Stand up repeatable SI/prime-led offerings (agency contact center transformation, DoD voice-enabled C2/ISR analytics, benefits-processing voice AI) that the partner takes to its agency customers under its own contract vehicle.

• Sell-with: Co-sell into named federal accounts with SI and hyperscaler account teams, owning joint pipeline, forecast, and deal execution alongside Deepgram's Federal Account Executives.

• Build a measurable partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline. Set quarterly and annual targets with each partner, instrument the pipeline end-to-end, and own the number.

• Work alongside the partner team to build the federal partner enablement and credential/certification program. Align Deepgram's Applied Engineering/FDE playbook with SI and hyperscaler delivery teams.

• Create the joint solutions. Work with product, engineering, solutions architects, and each partner's industry/mission practices to package reference architectures, delivery playbooks, and offerings specific to Defense/DoW, Federal Civilian, IC, and SLED.

• Enable at scale. Design and launch partner enablement — technical certifications, sales plays, GovCloud demo environments, and solution-led training — plus contract-vehicle placement (GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, CIO-SP3, GWACs); so hundreds of partner sellers and practitioners can position, demo, and deliver Deepgram.

• Be AI-native in how you work. This is a defining part of the role. You will build and deploy AI systems — agents, automations, data pipelines — to do the job of a conventional 5–10 person federal alliances team. Examples:

• Agents that monitor SI/prime alliance news, contract awards, GSA Schedule updates, and account movements, and auto-draft briefs.

• Automated partner-sourced pipeline hygiene, account mapping, and co-sell attribution using Deepgram's CRM, Slack, and partner portals.

• AI-generated partner-specific collateral, solution briefs, and enablement content tuned to each partner's agency vertical.

• Data pipelines that join Deepgram's CRM with partner account maps and public procurement signals (SAM.gov http://SAM.gov, USASpending) to surface the next-best co-sell opportunity every week.

• Represent Deepgram externally. Be the senior face of Deepgram in alliance QBRs, joint executive briefings, federal AI summits (AFCEA, ACT-IAC, GITEC), and industry events. Carry a consistent point of view on where federal voice AI is going and where Deepgram fits in the SI/prime agenda.

• Partner cross-functionally inside Deepgram. Work closely with Federal Account Executives (Defense, Federal Civilian, IC, SLED), Applied Engineering, Capture/Proposal, Government Affairs, and Legal to remove friction and accelerate partner-driven revenue.

• Report on what matters. Own the federal partner dashboard: partner-sourced pipeline, partner-influenced pipeline, joint wins, certified resources, joint solutions launched, and partner NPS; with crisp, honest narratives each month and quarter.

What you bring

• Must be a U.S. citizen.

• 7+ years in partner management, alliances, business development, or federal enterprise sales — with at least 3–5 years directly owning SI/prime or hyperscaler federal relationships.

• Demonstrated track record of building sell-to, sell-through, and sell-with motions with named federal partners and delivering measurable partner-sourced and partner-influenced revenue.

• Experience scaling a federal partnership from early-stage or zero — not inheriting a mature program.

• Strong command of how federal SIs/primes actually operate: capture teams, delivery centers, COEs, contract vehicles, teaming agreements, and how deals get sourced and staffed inside them.

• Fluency with the federal AI landscape — LLMs, agentic AI, mission software factories, FedRAMP/DoD Impact Level authorization pathways, and hyperscaler federal co-sell motions.

• Hands-on AI-native operator. You personally use AI tools every day — not as a talking point. You have built automations, agents, or data workflows that replaced meaningful human effort, and you can show us.

• Excellent executive presence — comfortable opening and advancing conversations with partner SVPs, federal practice leads, and Deepgram's own executive team.

• Analytical rigor. You instrument what you own, tell the truth with data, and translate numbers into decisions.

• Self-directed, high-ownership, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.

It would be great if you also had

• An active security clearance is a bonus, not a requirement.

• Existing strong relationships inside at least two of SI or Prime partner organizations.

• Direct experience launching a joint federal offering or solution that produced repeatable agency engagements.

• Background in speech, voice AI, CCaaS, or adjacent domains (AWS Connect GovCloud, Genesys Government, NICE, ServiceNow Federal).

• Experience building internal AI tooling — agents, RAG systems, CRM automations — for a revenue team.