---
title: 'Partner Operations at Picogrid'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/partner-operations-picogrid-washington-8xm5ex4p9p6h'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-08'
---

# Partner Operations at Picogrid

- **Company:** Picogrid
- **Location:** Washington, DC / San Francisco, CA / El Segundo, CA
- **Compensation:** $125k–$190k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-10-29
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/picogrid/949f6f4d-4a85-47c8-990d-0e7ac0ae622d

## Job description

## Who we are

Picogrid is a leading venture-backed defense technology company founded to bridge the decades-long gap between modern technology and the critical demands of national security. Today, we're building the essential infrastructure to unify sensors, autonomy, and operators with our technology deployed in active operations around the world. Our mission is to deliver an operational advantage to secure the United States and its allies.

## About the Role

Picogrid’s platform becomes more valuable as more technologies can connect to it and operate together in the field. In Partner Operations, you will be in charge of cultivating and expanding that ecosystem: the processes, data, programs, and cross-functional coordination that turn individual partner relationships into a durable company capability. You will own the operational partner lifecycle from qualification support and onboarding through technical activation, recurring engagement, field participation, approved external storytelling, and ongoing health reviews. You will work across Engineering, Deployments, Capture, Legal, and Marketing to give every meaningful partner a clear internal owner, current context, defined next steps, and a reliable experience working with Picogrid. Partner Operations builds the infrastructure that allows the broader ecosystem to onboard, remain engaged, and create sustained operational value, and uses that infrastructure to be the face of our partnership activities to other companies in our ecosystem. You will get close enough to deployments, demonstrations, and technical integrations to understand what partners actually need, not just what appears in a relationship tracker. Success is measured by the quality, continuity, and usefulness of our partnerships: how quickly partners can engage, how effectively their technologies and teams participate in Picogrid’s work, and whether those relationships grow stronger through real execution.

## What You'll Do

- Build and maintain Picogrid’s partner system of record, including relationship stage, internal owner, key contacts, agreements, technical status, approvals, commitments, and next actions
- Design and operate a consistent partner lifecycle spanning intake, qualification support, onboarding, activation, recurring engagement, health reviews, expansion readiness, and responsible offboarding
- Coordinate cross-functional onboarding across Engineering, Deployments, Capture, Legal, and Marketing so partners understand how to work with Picogrid and internal teams know what has been promised
- Partner with Engineering to make technical onboarding faster and more repeatable by gathering interface documentation, clarifying integration prerequisites, tracking readiness, and resolving coordination gaps
- Create repeatable engagement programs—such as partner briefings, technical office hours, working sessions, event participation, and ecosystem updates—that keep relationships useful between deployments and proposals
- Maintain relationship continuity through clear notes, ownership, handoffs, and follow-through so critical partner context does not disappear when people, priorities, or programs change
- Support demonstrations, exercises, and selected field deployments to understand how partner technologies perform together and translate those lessons into better onboarding and engagement programs
- Coordinate approved co-marketing and external storytelling, including logos, compatibility claims, case studies, announcements, and website content, with the evidence and approvals those claims require
- Develop and track partner-health and program-quality metrics. This includes onboarding time, engagement consistency, technical activation, relationship coverage, data freshness, and participation in relevant programs. Use these to improve the ecosystem

## Who You Are

- You are a creative program operator who can turn a broad relationship strategy into practical workflows, useful programs, and consistent execution
- You care about the depth and durability of relationships, not simply the number of names in a database or agreements signed
- You create systems people actually use, balancing operational discipline with the speed and judgment of an early-stage company
- You build trust across external partners and internal teams through preparation, responsiveness, discretion, and dependable follow-through
- You are technically curious and can work credibly with engineers and operators without pretending to be the person implementing the technology
- You learn from the field and can translate the reality of deployments, demonstrations, and integrations into better partner programs
- You move comfortably between detailed operational work and higher-level analysis of where the partner ecosystem needs to improve

## Basic Qualifications

- 4+ years of experience in partner operations, ecosystem or alliance programs, program management, business operations, professional services, or a related role
- Demonstrated experience building or improving a multi-stage operating process involving external relationships and several internal functions
- Strong program-management skills, including the ability to define owners, milestones, dependencies, decisions, and follow-up across concurrent workstreams
- Experience maintaining reliable relationship or program data in a CRM, project-management platform, or comparable system of record
- Technical literacy sufficient to understand product and integration concepts, coordinate onboarding, and translate between business, engineering, and operational stakeholders
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the judgment to work across executives, technical teams, operators, and external partners
- Willingness to travel periodically for partner meetings, demonstrations, industry events, and selected field activities

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience owning partner, ecosystem, alliance, or developer-program operations
- Experience at a startup or high-growth technology company where core processes and systems were still being built
- Experience in defense technology, aerospace, national security, management consulting, investment banking, or another demanding environment requiring structured analysis and stakeholder management
- Experience supporting technical integrations, partner onboarding, co-marketing, joint events, demonstrations, or field deployments
- Familiarity with government customers, military operations, or the defense industrial base

## Why This Role Exists

Picogrid’s partner ecosystem has grown through real work alongside technology companies, operators, and government customers. Those relationships extend what our platform can connect, strengthen our ability to deliver integrated solutions, and create credible evidence that Picogrid can make diverse systems work together. But relationship depth does not scale through informal knowledge and one-off follow-up alone. Partner Operations creates the operating layer that allows those relationships to compound. By giving partners a consistent experience, making technical and relationship context visible, maintaining meaningful touchpoints, and learning from joint execution, this role will turn a growing network into a trusted and durable ecosystem advantage.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Base salary range: $125,000–$190,000 per year. Base salary is just one part of your total compensation package at Picogrid.
- Significant stock options with a high potential upside as an early-stage company
- 401(k) with employer matching
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your family
- Relocation assistance provided (if applicable)
- Unlimited PTO (two-week minimum) and 11 paid holidays per year
- Paid parental leave for both parents
- Lunch provided when working in-office and a fully stocked kitchenette
- Free EV charging at the HQ
- Unique office in El Segundo, CA stocked with quality coffee, snacks, and craft beer

Export Control Requirements To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

## #LI-DNP

## Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy

Picogrid is committed to providing a professional work environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. We are an equal opportunity employer and make all employment decisions based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.

## About Picogrid

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Picogrid builds an open integration platform that connects sensors, unmanned systems, and command nodes across land, sea, air, and space for defense and public safety missions.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Zane Mountcastle (CEO) and Martin Slosarik (Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Defense and Space Manufacturing, National Security, Public Safety
- **Target customers**: US and allied military forces, defense vendors, government agencies (B2G)
- **Mission**: Protect service members and civilians by making mission-critical systems work as one – because speed and cohesion are essential.

## Products & Services
- **Picogrid Platform**: A family of hardware and software products that integrate physical and digital assets. Enables fast deployment, seamless coordination, and edge-to-cloud operations across domains (air defense, base security, SIGINT, wildfire intelligence, human-machine teaming).
- **Orion**: A dual-use partner ecosystem that unifies legacy and next-gen satellites, sensors, drones, and C2 systems into a standardized, real-time operational picture.
- **Legion**: An API layer that allows third-party hardware and software to plug into Picogrid’s ecosystem, enabling rapid integration of new capabilities.
- **Expeditionary C2 Nodes**: Ruggedized hardware for field-deployed command-and-control, connecting edge devices and legacy systems.
- **Custom Solutions**: Tailored integrations for specific missions (e.g., wildfire response, air defense networks).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – **$57.31M** (including $45M Series A announced May 29, 2026, led by Bessemer Venture Partners)
- **Notable Investors**: Bessemer Venture Partners (lead Series A), Initialized Capital (seed lead), Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Alumni Ventures, Washington Harbour, GSBackers, and industry angels.
- **Growth Signals**: 103.3% YoY headcount growth (45 employees); 24 active job postings (+140% YoY); deployed globally with US and allied forces; integration ecosystem spans 100+ defense systems (Skydio, Northrop Grumman, Echodyne, CX2, Neros); recent integration of Ukraine-proven Shahed interceptors; partnerships with Hoverfly for persistent aerial detection.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Open integration layer**: Hardware-agnostic, vendor-neutral platform that eliminates the “seams” between proprietary systems – a central bottleneck in modern defense.
- **Dual-use ecosystem**: Already trusted by elite operators and used in active operations, giving Picogrid real-world credibility that is hard for new entrants to replicate.
- **Speed of deployment**: Products are designed for rapid field integration, reducing the time from procurement to operational capability.
- **Broad domain coverage**: Land, sea, air, space, and cyber (SIGINT) – a unified approach across all operational domains.

## Strategic Focus
- Expand the product family and integration capabilities into new operational domains (e.g., space, undersea).
- Scale manufacturing in California and Oklahoma to meet growing demand from US forces and allies.
- Deepen the partner ecosystem to attract more defense vendors onto the platform, reinforcing network effects.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven work**: “Build systems that protect lives” – employees directly contribute to national security and public safety.
- **Rapid growth**: 103% headcount growth YoY, indicating strong trajectory and opportunity for impact.
- **Technical challenges**: Work spans edge software, field hardware, AI/ML, autonomy, and systems integration – appealing to engineers who want to solve hard problems.
- **Culture**: Emphasis on speed, cohesion, and operational relevance. The company values hands-on builders and mission partners.
- **Remote/Hybrid/Office**: Not explicitly stated, but headquarters in El Segundo, CA with additional locations in Oklahoma and Ukraine. Likely a mix of on-site and field deployment roles.
- **Notable perks**: Not detailed, but the engineering culture is described as building edge software and field hardware that shapes the future of defense.

## Sources
1. [picogrid.com](https://picogrid.com/)
2. [picogrid.com/careers](https://picogrid.com/careers)
3. [picogrid.com/mission](https://picogrid.com/mission)
4. [linkedin.com/company/picogrid](https://www.linkedin.com/company/picogrid)
5. [cbinsights.com/company/picogrid](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/picogrid)

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