Director, North America Startups, Startups

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a complete set of cloud services that enable all companies, from startups to enterprises, to run virtually everything in the cloud. AWS Worldwide Startups is the dedicated organization that helps startups build, grow, and scale on AWS. Within this organization, North America Startups represents one of our largest and most strategically significant businesses, serving thousands of startups across the continent.

We are seeking a Director and General Manager to lead the North America Startups organization. This leader will own the full go-to-market strategy, revenue delivery, and team development for our NA Startup business, partnering directly with venture capital firms, founders, and startup executives to accelerate growth through cloud, data, and AI adoption. This role carries single-threaded ownership of a large and complex business that requires the ability to lead through the AI transformation as it reshapes the startup landscape.

Role Overview

As the Director and GM of North America Startups, you will set vision, strategy, and operational cadence for the largest regional startup business within AWS. You will lead a large, multi-disciplinary organization spanning Sales, Business Development, Solutions Architecture, Investment Management, and Go-To-Market functions across multiple hubs including San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Boston. You will drive revenue growth across the full spectrum of startup customers - from early-stage AI-native companies to high-growth scale-ups positioned to become tomorrow"s enterprise leaders.

Unlike traditional sales leadership roles, this position requires general management of an entire market segment with substantial P&L responsibility, direct influence on AWS product strategy through customer and ecosystem feedback, engagement at the highest levels of AWS and Amazon, and alignment with the venture capital and startup communities. Additionally, proficiency in managing direct and matrixed resources is required, and the ability to engage technical founders is essential. You will operate with significant strategic ambiguity in a rapidly evolving landscape where investment themes, business models, and portfolio company needs shift continuously.

Key job responsibilities

• Own and deliver multi-billion-dollar annual revenue targets with strong YoY growth for the North America Startup segment while building a pipeline of future Enterprise customers
• Define and execute the North America Startups GTM strategy, including coverage models, portfolio prioritization, and segment-specific approaches for early and growth-stage startups
• Lead organizational mechanisms supporting cloud and AI adoption across thousands of startup customers
• Cultivate and maintain strategic relationships with top-tier venture capital firms, General Partners, Managing Directors, and Platform teams across North America
• Engage directly with AWS executive leadership, startup founders, and C-suite executives to align on joint value creation strategies
• Execute complex, high-value opportunities with sophisticated startup customers, navigating technical, commercial, competitive, and partnership elements simultaneously
• Navigate highly competitive environments to secure adoption of emerging startups and position AWS as the preferred cloud partner
• Establish and manage operational cadence including pipeline reviews, forecasting, performance metrics, and business reviews across the NA Startups organization
• Build, develop, and scale high-performing teams across multiple disciplines and geographies with consistent performance metrics and development paths
• Manage workforce planning, resource allocation, and talent development across the organization
• Serve as the voice of the startup community to AWS service teams, influencing product roadmaps, startup programs, and go-to-market strategies
• Identify and capitalize on emerging trends - particularly in GenAI, Agentic AI, and frontier technologies - to position AWS as the preferred cloud partner for VC-backed startups
• Coordinate with AWS Partner Organization (APO) and cross-functional teams on co-sell, sell-with, and sell-to approaches for startup customers
• Partner with WW Startups leadership on global strategy, cross-regional alignment, and emerging market expansion