Fractional Business Development Lead

About The Role We're looking for a fractional business development lead based in San Francisco to help Arkadium build relationships in the AI ecosystem and create new partnership opportunities. This person will act as an embedded connector across the San Francisco AI community—attending events, building relationships, opening doors with relevant companies, and helping us get closer to the right researchers, product teams, and decision-makers. This is a part‑time/fractional 3‑month engagement with the potential to extend based on results.

If you're a well‑connected business development professional in the San Francisco AI ecosystem and excited to help Arkadium build strategic partnerships, we'd love to hear from you. What You'll Do Build and manage relationships across the San Francisco AI community Attend industry events, meetups, dinners, and conferences regularly Identify and engage high‑value contacts at AI labs, startups, and adjacent companies Create introductions that lead to partnership and business development opportunities Help Arkadium navigate complex organizations and find the right internal teams Conduct targeted outreach and consistent follow‑up with prospects Share market feedback and intelligence from conversations in the ecosystem Coordinate closely with Arkadium leadership on target accounts, messaging, and priorities What Success Looks Like Opens doors to the right people at priority companies Generates qualified introductions and meetings quickly Helps convert outreach into concrete partnership conversations Contributes to closed deals or clear late‑stage opportunities during the engagement Builds a repeatable relationship map of the San Francisco AI ecosystem Who You Are Deeply embedded in the San Francisco tech and AI scene A natural networker who is highly proactive and comfortable with outbound outreach Strong at follow‑up, relationship management, and moving conversations forward Commercially minded and motivated by results Able to understand technical concepts well enough to communicate credibly with AI teams Likely comes from business development, partnerships, startup sales, or ecosystem roles Comfortable operating independently in a fast‑moving, ambiguous environment Ideal Background Existing relationships across the San Francisco AI/startup ecosystem Experience in tech sales, partnerships, business development, or founder‑facing ecosystem work Familiarity with AI labs, model companies, tooling startups, or developer platforms Experience working in or around emerging technology markets Strong communication skills in both in‑person and digital outreach settings Benefits Monthly retainer plus performance‑based upside/commission Immediate start #J-18808-Ljbffr