VP, Strategic Business Development

Description

Silk is seeking a VP, Strategic Business Development to build and drive high-impact commercial partnerships across the AI infrastructure, neo-cloud, hyperscaler, and enterprise data ecosystems.

This is a builder role, not a traditional alliances or account management position. We need someone who can identify opportunities where none exist today, open doors at the executive level, structure complex commercial agreements, and turn strategic relationships into meaningful revenue.

Working directly with the CEO and alongside our VP, Strategic AI & Technology Partnerships, this leader will own the commercial side of strategic partnerships, with particular emphasis on OEM, embedded technology, and platform agreements.

We offer an opportunity for an entrepreneurial, commercially driven leader to build something meaningful, take substantial ownership, and influence Silk's next stage of growth.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Business Development: Identify, originate, negotiate, and close high-value commercial opportunities across cloud, data, and AI infrastructure ecosystems.
• OEM & Platform Partnerships: Establish OEM, embedded technology, licensing, and strategic platform agreements that generate meaningful recurring revenue and long-term value.
• Neo-Cloud & AI Infrastructure Ecosystem: Build executive relationships with emerging AI infrastructure providers, GPU cloud platforms, hyperscalers, and other relevant technology companies.
• Commercial Execution: Build and manage a pipeline of strategic opportunities, develop commercial models and joint go-to-market approaches, and personally drive complex deals through execution.
• Corporate Development: Work with the CEO on strategic relationships and opportunities that strengthen Silk's long-term positioning and support corporate development objectives.

Requirements

• Strong enterprise technology sales background combined with meaningful strategic business development experience.
• Proven success personally originating, negotiating, and closing complex, high-value commercial agreements, preferably including OEM or platform partnerships.
• Experience in cloud infrastructure, enterprise data, storage, databases, AI infrastructure, or related enterprise software markets.
• Strong understanding of AI infrastructure and emerging neo-cloud/GPU cloud business models.
• Demonstrated ability to create business from scratch, preferably at smaller or emerging technology companies where success required building credibility without an established brand.
• Ability to develop senior executive relationships and navigate complex technical and commercial decision-making processes.
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful, and comfortable operating independently without an established playbook.

Highly desirable: Established commercial relationships across AI infrastructure and neo-cloud ecosystems; experience with multi-year OEM agreements; exposure to corporate development.

What We're Looking For

A commercial hunter and relationship builder with strong sales instincts, strategic judgment, and a bias for execution. Someone who is comfortable taking calculated risks, creating opportunities from scratch, and being measured by the business they generate — not simply the relationships they maintain.