AI Vendor Evaluations & Management Associate Director

Burtch Works; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 264,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel reimbursement

Remote work options

Job summary

Burtch Works is seeking an AI Vendor Evaluations & Management Associate Director to lead how the firm evaluates, selects, manages and governs AI tools that support its legal and business functions.

This senior role focuses on enterprise AI platform governance, vendor relationships and translating findings into executive recommendations for senior stakeholders; travel and remote work options are available, with Chicago as a primary base and other offices in the U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• 8+ years in product management, technology evaluation, vendor management.
• Experience evaluating AI or enterprise software with rigorous assessments.
• Strong vendor management incl. negotiations, escalations, performance management.
• Experience managing enterprise software platforms including licensing and governance.
• Broad familiarity with current AI landscape incl. general-purpose and legal AI tools.
• Experience turning evaluations into leadership recommendations.
• People management experience with coaching direct reports.
• Excellent communication with senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead evaluations, pilots and competitive assessments of AI tools.
• Develop evaluation frameworks, scoring criteria and methodologies.
• Own strategic relationships with AI vendors, including negotiations and roadmaps.
• Lead rollout and governance of general-purpose AI platforms with IT teams.
• Collaborate with Procurement, Security, Risk, Legal and IT on requirements.
• Monitor AI market trends and provide insights to leadership.
• Translate business needs into evaluation criteria.
• Establish scalable processes for evaluation, governance and performance.
• Manage escalations and drive adoption of approved tools.
• Coach and develop a growing team and set performance expectations.

Skills

Leadership

Vendor management

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Communication

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

ChatGPT Enterprise

Claude Enterprise

Harvey

CoCounsel

Relativity aiR

Job description

Job Title: AI Vendor Evaluations & Management Associate Director

Location: Chicago, IL (hybrid or 100% remote); Dallas, TX or New York, NY (100% remote). Candidates must reside within a 90-minute commute of the Chicago, Dallas or New York office.

Employment Type: Permanent, full-time (exempt)

Target Compensation: $200,000 to $264,000 + discretionary bonus

About The Company

Our client is a leading global law firm serving businesses, financial institutions and other organizations across a broad range of industries. The firm is investing heavily in AI across its legal and business functions and is building a dedicated function to decide which AI technologies it adopts and how they are governed.

Job Summary

We are seeking an AI Vendor Evaluations & Management Associate Director to lead how the firm evaluates, selects, manages and governs the AI tools that support its legal and business functions. This is a senior leadership role focused on AI vendor evaluation and management, enterprise AI platform governance and team leadership. The Associate Director serves as the subject matter expert on the evolving AI market and partners closely with practice groups, IT, Information Security, Risk, General Counsel, Procurement and senior leadership.

This is not an integration engineering or hands‑on development role. The ideal candidate is technically credible and comfortable working with IT and Security, but the primary focus is evaluating technology, managing strategic vendors and enterprise AI platforms, and translating findings into recommendations for senior stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead evaluations, pilots and competitive assessments of legal and general‑purpose AI tools.
• Develop structured evaluation frameworks, scoring criteria and methodologies that support clear, evidence‑based recommendations.
• Own strategic relationships with AI and technology vendors, including negotiations, performance, escalations, product roadmaps and service commitments.
• Lead the rollout and ongoing operational management of general‑purpose AI platforms in partnership with IT, including governance, licensing, access, usage monitoring, configuration and support.
• Partner with Procurement, Information Security, Risk, General Counsel and IT on procurement, security assessment, data protection, compliance and deployment requirements.
• Monitor the legal AI market, including emerging products, capabilities, pricing models and trends, and provide insights to firm and practice leadership.
• Translate practice group and business needs into technology and vendor evaluation criteria.
• Establish scalable processes, standards and documentation for AI evaluation, vendor management, platform governance and ongoing performance assessment.
• Lead on complex vendor and platform issues, coordinating stakeholders to resolve escalations and support adoption of approved AI tools.
• Manage, coach and develop a growing team, setting priorities and performance expectations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in liberal arts, technology or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 8+ years of experience in product management, technology evaluation, vendor management or a comparable role.
• Experience evaluating, piloting, selecting or procuring AI or enterprise software products, with the ability to run rigorous competitive assessments.
• Strong strategic vendor management experience, including negotiations, escalations, performance management and ongoing relationship ownership.
• Experience managing or administering enterprise software platforms, including licensing, user and access management, usage reporting, governance and vendor support.
• Broad familiarity with the current AI landscape, including general‑purpose and legal‑specific AI tools.
• Demonstrated experience turning evaluations into recommendations for senior leadership.
• People management experience, including coaching and developing direct reports.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills with technical and non‑technical stakeholders, including senior leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a law firm, legal technology or other regulated professional‑services environment (financial services, healthcare, consulting).
• Exposure to legal AI across research, drafting, contract analysis, e‑discovery, tax/​regulatory or similar areas.
• Experience with enterprise AI platforms such as ChatGPT Enterprise or Claude Enterprise, and familiarity with legal AI products such as Harvey, CoCounsel or Relativity aiR.
• Experience with enterprise identity, data governance, security review processes and document management systems.

Other Skills And Abilities

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Good judgment and strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills.
• Able to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion.
• Able to work under pressure and manage multiple projects with competing deadlines.

Work Arrangement

Chicago‑based candidates may work hybrid (minimum three days onsite) or 100% remote. Dallas and New York candidates work 100% remote. The final interview and onboarding take place onsite in Chicago, with travel expenses reimbursed. Occasional travel may be required.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or in the future.