Business Development and Partnerships Lead

About the Role

Carson is building a channel-first go-to-market motion, and the Business Development & Partnerships Lead will own the infrastructure that makes it work. This role is responsible for maximizing Carson's opportunity across the multifamily technology landscape — including dealers, security technology companies, and technology that touches the resident. This includes:

• Building the dealer network
• Establishing the preferred dealer program
• Establishing partnerships with security technology companies, including intercom companies, access control companies, electronic door lock manufacturers, CCTV providers, and others
• Establishing partnerships with companies that can become part of the one-app resident experience ecosystem, driving the best experience for the resident and new revenue for the property

This is not a support function. The Business Development & Partnerships Lead owns all dealer and partner relationships at Carson, and the revenue tied to them, and reports directly to the CEO.

What You'll Own

The Dealer Flywheel: Preferred Network, Expansion & Hardware Partnerships

Preferred Dealer Network, Dealer Expansion, and Non-Dealer (hardware) Partnerships are one connected system, not three separate workstreams. The model you're building looks like this: Carson strikes a strategic partnership with a hardware vendor (e.g., Brivo, Dormakaba); that partnership is publicized inside the vendor's dealer network; compensation is structured so that selling Carson is obviously additive to how those dealers already make money on the vendor's products; Carson and the vendor jointly enable dealers to sell and install the combined solution; Carson wins deals through that network; and the dealers Carson wins with become excited enough about the outcome to formalize as preferred Carson dealers — feeding the next round of hardware partnerships and expansion. You own building and running that flywheel end to end.

Preferred Dealer Network

You will formalize what it means to be a preferred dealer partner and build the operating model around it — structured engagement cadences, co-selling motions, solution design support, and performance tracking. Preferred dealers are the flywheel's output: dealers who won real deals with Carson through a hardware partnership or direct recruitment and want to go deeper.

Dealer Expansion

Grow the number of dealers with meaningful exposure to Carson beyond the core preferred network — primarily by activating the dealer networks of Carson's hardware partners, and by evaluating how national dealer conglomerates and rollups fit into the strategy. This includes defining how dealers move from recruited to active to preferred, and working with the AE team, who are free to recruit new dealers independently.

Non-Dealer (Hardware) Partnerships

Own relationships with hardware vendors and technology partners — Brivo, 2N, Dormakaba, Salto, Chamberlain Group, ButterflyMX, and others. This is where the flywheel starts: you negotiate the strategic partnership, the co-marketing that puts Carson in front of the vendor's dealer network, and compensation economics that make selling Carson clearly additive to how a dealer already earns money on that vendor's hardware — plus the joint enablement that lets dealers actually sell and install the combined solution. You will deepen these partnerships over time and develop new ones that strengthen Carson's position as a system integration partner.

One-App Partner Ecosystem

Own partnerships with companies that plug into Carson's one-app resident experience — point-solution providers who already own a piece of the resident lifecycle. You will build on Carson's current playbook of licensing and white-labeling these solutions inside the Carson app, expand into new service categories, and negotiate the recurring-revenue economics that make each partnership commercially worthwhile.

Rules of Engagement

You will be the governing authority on dealer and partner rules of engagement across the sales team. AEs follow a defined protocol before engaging preferred dealers; you define, maintain, and enforce that protocol. All dealer and partner relationship activity runs through you or with your awareness.

Solution Design Enablement

Carson has built a Design Consultant capability — the enablement dealers need to design the full property technology solution and put together a professional proposal. This is a rare capability for a resident experience company to offer, and it's a direct expression of Carson's commitment to its dealer partners. You will work with Operations and Product to package this as an expertise available to preferred dealer partners — something they can use to strengthen their own business and win more work.

CRM & Pipeline Hygiene

You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy of the dealer and partner records in HubSpot — the lists that govern which companies are preferred dealers, which are active partners, and how AEs engage with them. Adding a new dealer or partner company to HubSpot requires your approval.

What Success Looks Like

In the first 90 days:

• You have designed the preferred dealer program — tiering criteria, engagement cadence, and co-selling model — mapped to Carson's geographic priorities and to the dealer networks of our key hardware partners, so that Carson maximizes the return on the investments it's already placing there.
• You have a point of view on where national dealer rollups fit into the overall channel strategy, and you've introduced yourself to Carson's key hardware and one-app ecosystem partners to understand the current state of each relationship.

In Six Months

• The preferred dealer network has a defined operating rhythm — regular touchpoints, clear mutual expectations, and measurable output.
• You have recruited at least several new dealers into the broader network, built a pipeline of additional candidates, and made real progress with at least one national dealer rollup opportunity.
• At least one hardware partnership has been formalized or deepened in a way that creates commercial value, and at least one one-app ecosystem partnership is in motion.

By End Of Year

• The preferred dealer network is a real competitive advantage: dealers in it get meaningfully better support from Carson than they would from any competitor, they're motivated to refer business, and the network maps cleanly to Carson's geography and to partner dealer footprints.
• Preferred dealers are making meaningful recurring revenue through their partnership with Carson.
• You have a repeatable model for how dealers move through the network, a clear view of where national rollups fit at scale, and a one-app partner ecosystem that is a proven, growing revenue line.

Requirements

• 5+ years in channel sales, partnerships, or business development — ideally in proptech, security, access control, smart building technology, or a comparable hardware/software dealer channel
• Deep understanding of the multifamily technology and security ecosystem — how decisions get made, how projects get scoped and won, how money flows between owners, dealers, and integrators, and what it takes to win with a dealer channel — with established contacts across the space already in place
• Experience owning external relationships at the partner or dealer level, not just supporting them
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage company where the playbook doesn't exist yet and you're expected to write it

Skills

• Strong relationship builder who earns trust quickly with operators, dealers, and technology partners
• Commercially sharp — you understand margin, deal economics, and what makes a dealer relationship worth investing in
• Organized and systematic — you can manage a portfolio of relationships without letting any fall through the cracks
• Clear communicator, internally and externally — comfortable presenting to dealer principals and to the executive team

Character

• Ownership mentality — you treat the dealer network as yours to build, not a list of names to manage
• Low ego, high accountability — you'll collaborate closely with the AE team, Operations, Product, and the CEO, and success is shared
• Curious about the product and the technology — you don't need to be an access control engineer, but you need to care enough to learn how the full solution fits together

Benefits

• Fun, intimate team that’s level-headed and inclusive where your ideas are welcomed
• An educational opportunity like no other where you’ll learn about software, hardware and various security solutions for the real estate industry
• Meet and develop relationships with leaders in multifamily real estate and security
• Field prospecting, attend sales meetings & industry events
• Equity
• Unlimited vacation
• Union Square office
• Commuter Benefits
• 401K
• Personal skill development plans

Pay

$150 - $200K OTE