About this role
The API Platform team at Perplexity builds tools that bring search, AI, and agent orchestration directly to developers and enterprise organizations. This Strategic Business Operations Lead role focuses on managing key customer relationships while driving internal operational initiatives to scale the growing API business. Team members split their time between direct client interactions and high-level strategic planning, particularly around post-sale programs and account growth.
Candidates stepping into this position will oversee a portfolio of API clients, guiding them through adoption, product migrations, and long-term infrastructure scaling. The ideal person combines strong analytical capabilities with a deep interest in customer engagement, navigating both technical details and commercial priorities alongside engineering and sales teams.
What you will do
- Manage a portfolio of API customer relationships by leading account conversations, understanding business priorities, and coordinating technical and commercial next steps.
- Build comprehensive account plans centered on adoption, value realization, and growth while identifying risks early to support renewals and expansions.
- Design and improve the post-sale operating model by refining customer segmentation, account coverage, onboarding protocols, and team handoffs.
- Lead strategic projects across the API business with an initial focus on customer adoption and retention from scoping to execution.
- Run customer programs including product and endpoint migrations, enablement sessions, and rollout communications with defined milestones.
- Coordinate customer communications for product updates, pricing changes, deprecations, and incidents alongside engineering, support, and commercial teams.
- Analyze usage data, consumption against commitments, renewal risk, and expansion signals to prioritize engagement and guide business decisions.
- Build practical reporting, workflows, and automation while partnering with finance and billing operations to improve the customer experience.
What you need
- Bring five or more years of professional experience in business operations, strategy and operations, consulting, customer success, account management, or a related role.
- Demonstrate a track record of taking ambiguous business problems from analysis through implementation across multiple teams.
- Possess strong analytical skills with comfort handling spreadsheets, usage data, and business metrics to identify problems and test hypotheses.
- Show strong relationship skills and an interest in spending significant time with customers to lead conversations and understand priorities.
- Display curiosity about APIs and AI products alongside the ability to learn technical concepts and collaborate with engineering teams.
- Exhibit clear writing, commercial judgment, and the capacity to balance ongoing customer relationships with long-term projects.
Nice to have
- Direct customer-facing experience in a B2B technology company, including account management, customer success, partnerships, or solutions work.
- Experience with API businesses, developer platforms, or consumption-based revenue models.
- Working knowledge of SQL, CRM systems, or BI tools, and experience automating recurring analysis or workflows.
Benefits
- Offers Equity
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the focus of this role?
The position is roughly half customer-facing and half strategic and operational work, with an initial focus on building and improving post-sale programs. You will own a portfolio of API customers, learning how AI-native companies and large enterprises evaluate, adopt, and scale AI infrastructure.
What salary and equity are offered?
The compensation for this position ranges from $170K to $220K and includes offers of equity.
Where is the job located?
The position is located in San Francisco.