How to Structure Your Partnership Team in 2026

A practical guide to scaling partnerships as your startup grows.

Partnerships are one of the most powerful growth levers for startups  and one of the easiest to get wrong as you scale.

Too early, and you burn time and money on a function that isn’t ready. Too late, and partnerships become reactive, messy, and impossible to untangle. The reality is that your partnership team should look very different at $500K ARR than it does at $8M or $20M.

Based on common startup growth patterns, this article walks through how partnership team structure typically evolves as a company grows - what to focus on at each stage, who to hire (or not hire), and how responsibilities shift over time.

Stage 1: $0–$1M ARR — No Partnership Function (Founder-Led)

Team structure:

• No dedicated partnerships role
• No team
• Founder-led partnerships

At this stage, partnerships are not a function - they’re experiments.

Most startups under $1M ARR should not hire for partnerships. The founder (or a very early leader) handles everything: inbound introductions, early integrations, co-marketing tests, and the occasional strategic deal.

Why? Because partnerships at this stage are about learning, not scale.

Your goals here:

• Validate whether partnerships can drive real value
• Understand which partner types matter (tech, affiliates, agencies, platforms)
• Learn the sales motion, integration complexity, and deal cycles
• Pressure-test your value proposition through external channels

Anything more formal than this is usually premature. There’s no playbook yet and hiring before you have one often leads to vague roles and unclear ROI.

Stage 2: $1M–$3M ARR — Externalized Partnerships

Team structure:

• Team size: 0–1 (often still zero internally)
• Partnerships handled via external service or contractor
• Founder still closely involved

As traction increases, partnerships start to feel “important”  but not yet “hire a team” important.

This is where many startups externalize partnerships:

• Agencies running affiliate programs
• Consultants managing early integrations
• Contractors supporting co-marketing or ecosystem work

The upside is speed and flexibility. You get execution without long-term commitment, and you can test different partnership motions without locking yourself into a full-time hire.

However, this stage still requires strong founder involvement. External partners can execute, but they can’t define strategy for a product they didn’t build.

Key focus areas:

• Identify repeatable partnership motions
• Track real revenue impact (not vanity metrics)
• Decide what should become an internal capability later

If partnerships feel promising but inconsistent, you’re probably right on track.

Stage 3: $3M–$5M ARR — First Partnerships Manager (IC → P)

Team structure:

• Team size: 1–3
• First internal partnerships hire
• Role often transitions from IC to people manager

This is the inflection point and the one highlighted in your framework as “We are here.”

At this stage, partnerships are no longer just experiments. They’re producing meaningful revenue, pipeline, or product leverage and they need ownership.

Most companies hire a Partnerships Manager here, often someone who:

• Can execute deals end-to-end
• Is comfortable being hands-on and strategic
• Can later grow into managing others

Early direct reports might include:

• A technical partnerships or integrations exec
• An affiliate or channel exec

This role is still very execution-heavy. The manager is closing deals, managing partners, refining messaging, and building early process often all at once.

The goal of this stage:

• Turn partnerships into a predictable growth lever
• Document what works and what doesn’t
• Lay the groundwork for future specialization

It’s also where partnerships shift from “nice to have” to something sales, product, and marketing must actively collaborate on.

Stage 4: $5M–$10M ARR — Head of Partnerships

Team structure:

• Team size: 3–5
• Clear people manager role
• Multiple partnership motions running in parallel

Once you cross into this range, partnerships stop being a single role and become a real function.

The Head of Partnerships is now responsible for:

• Strategy across multiple partner types
• Managing managers or senior ICs
• Aligning partnerships with sales, product, and marketing

Direct reports often include:

• Tech partnerships lead
• Affiliate or channel lead
• Possibly a partner marketing role

The key shift here is leverage. The Head of Partnerships should no longer be personally closing every deal. Instead, they focus on:

• Prioritisation
• Resource allocation
• Partner segmentation
• Forecasting and performance management

At this stage, structure matters. Without clear ownership and goals, partnerships can quickly become fragmented  with different teams pulling in different directions.

Stage 5: $10M+ ARR — Director of Partnerships

Team structure:

• Team size: 5+
• Multiple sub-functions
• Senior leadership role

At $10M+ ARR, partnerships are a strategic pillar of the business.

The Director of Partnerships oversees a broad ecosystem that may include:

• Tech partnerships
• Affiliate partnerships
• Content and co-marketing
• Ecosystem and community partnerships
• Sales-led channel partnerships

This role is deeply cross-functional and externally facing. It’s less about execution and more about:

• Long-term strategy
• Market positioning
• Platform and ecosystem growth
• Executive-level partner relationships

At this level, partnerships influence product roadmap, go-to-market strategy, and even M&A conversations. Measurement becomes more sophisticated, and success is tied directly to company-level outcomes.

The Big Takeaway

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” partnership org  but there is a clear pattern.

• Early stage: learn fast, stay lean, founder-led
• Mid stage: hire for execution and repeatability
• Later stage: build structure, specialization, and leadership

The biggest mistake startups make is skipping steps - either hiring too early without clarity, or waiting too long and creating chaos.

If you align your partnership team structure with your stage of growth, partnerships stop being a question mark and start becoming a durable advantage.

And in 2026, that advantage compounds fast.