Program Manager, Provider Partnerships - OpenRouter

About OpenRouter

OpenRouter is the unified interface for LLMs. We route billions of tokens every month, helping developers and enterprises access, manage, and optimize their AI use across 400+ models and providers — without worrying about lock-in, capacity constraints, downtime, or complex integrations.

Our provider ecosystem is the foundation of that marketplace. As the number of model labs and inference providers we work with grows, the relationships behind them have to scale like a product — with consistent tiers, lifecycles, and standards — not as a set of one-off deals.

About the Role

We’re hiring a Program Manager to turn our Provider Program into a product. Today, provider relationships are managed one at a time; your job is to give them a repeatable structure so the ecosystem scales without adding headcount for every new partner.

You’ll own the standard provider lifecycle end to end — sourcing, onboarding, activation, QBR, and renewal — along with provider tiering (our “buckets”), SLAs, and the compliance cadence that keeps the program trustworthy. You’ll be the one person with context across every partnership, able to run program-wide operations without pulling individual partnership owners off their accounts.

You’ll also run our flagship programs, starting with MPEAP (Model Provider Early Access Program) and our verified/certified provider tracks. This is a high-ownership role that sits at the intersection of Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Security.

What You’ll Do

• Own the provider lifecycle: Define and operate the standard path from sourcing → onboarding → activation → QBR → renewal, with clear stage gates, owners, and SLAs.
• Design provider tiering: Build and maintain the tiering framework that determines how providers are classified, what they get, and what’s expected of them.
• Build programmatic structure that scales: Turn one-off relationships into repeatable systems — templates, playbooks, self-serve onboarding, and automated provider comms.
• Run cross-program operations: Execute program-wide changes (re-papering providers, launching new tiers, rolling out compliance attestations) as a single coordinated motion.
• Run flagship programs: Operate MPEAP and the verified/certified provider tracks, from intake criteria to ongoing management.
• Own the compliance cadence: Keep SLAs, attestations, and provider obligations on schedule and auditable.
• Set the operating cadence: Run the rhythm of the team — reviews, reporting, and alignment frameworks.
• Partner cross-functionally: Work across Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Security to unblock providers and ship program improvements.

About You

• Programs + strategy background: Experience building and running programs or strategy at a large, complex organization, knowing how to impose structure on ambiguity.
• Highly organized systems thinker: Instinctively turns recurring work into repeatable, automatable processes.
• Cross-functional operator: Comfortable owning operations that span Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, and Security.
• High agency and bias to ship: Takes end-to-end ownership, moves fast, and thrives in a small, fast-moving team with fluid boundaries.
• Strong written communication: Ability to turn complex, multi-stakeholder programs into clear docs, playbooks, and comms.
• Bonus: Familiarity with the AI ecosystem — model labs, inference providers, and certification requirements.