Product Associate Director, AI Vendor Integrations

Burtch Works; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Burtch Works seeks a hands-on Technical Product Associate Director to own relationships with AI and technology vendors and to lead integrations across the AI ecosystem. You will evaluate, connect, and operationalize AI platforms, legal tech tools, and enterprise systems by wiring APIs, connectors, and data flows to translate vendor capabilities into working firm solutions.

This role sits at the intersection of product management and solutions engineering, serving as the primary technical contact

Qualifications

• 5+ years in technical product management or related roles.
• Hands-on API integration experience.
• Fluency with multiple LLM platforms and tools.
• Experience managing external vendor relationships.
• Strong communication across engineers, vendors, and executives.

Responsibilities

• Vendor Relationship Management: own day-to-day relationships, escalations, roadmap discussions, and SLA follow-through.
• Evaluation & POCs: run evaluations and proofs of concept for new AI tools; benchmark and compare against use cases.
• Security & Compliance Coordination: partner with security, risk, and GC teams for security reviews and data protection.
• Product & Requirements Management: translate stakeholder needs into technical requirements and backlogs.
• Operational Excellence: monitor integration health, usage, and performance; establish observability and escalation paths.
• Market Awareness: track AI vendor landscape and advise leadership on platforms and model releases.

Skills

API integrations

Vendor management

Solutions engineering

Cross-functional leadership

Communication

Tools

REST

OAuth

SSO/SAML/SCIM

Job description

Position Overview

We are seeking a technical Product Associate Director to own the firm's relationships with its AI and technology vendors and to serve as the hands‑on integration lead across the AI ecosystem. This role goes well beyond managing a Claude or GPT deployment: the ideal candidate can evaluate, connect, and operationalize a broad range of AI platforms, legal technology tools, and enterprise systems — wiring up APIs, connectors, and data flows so that vendor capabilities translate into working solutions for the firm.

Position Overview

We are seeking a technical Product Associate Director to own the firm's relationships with its AI and technology vendors and to serve as the hands‑on integration lead across the AI ecosystem. This role goes well beyond managing a Claude or GPT deployment: the ideal candidate can evaluate, connect, and operationalize a broad range of AI platforms, legal technology tools, and enterprise systems — wiring up APIs, connectors, and data flows so that vendor capabilities translate into working solutions for the firm. This person sits at the intersection of product management and solutions engineering. They will be the primary technical point of contact for vendors, translating firm requirements into integration plans and holding vendors accountable for delivery, security, and performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Vendor Relationship Management: Serve as the primary liaison between the firm and its AI/technology vendors, owning day-to-day relationships, escalations, roadmap discussions, and contract/SLA follow-through.
• Evaluation & POCs: Run structured evaluations and proofs of concept for new AI tools and models; benchmark capabilities, cost, and fit against firm use cases and make build/buy/integrate recommendations.
• Security & Compliance Coordination: Partner with information security, risk, and general counsel teams to shepherd vendors through security review, data protection, and compliance requirements appropriate to a legal environment.
• Product & Requirements Management: Translate stakeholder needs into technical requirements, integration specs, and prioritized backlogs; manage delivery timelines across vendors and internal IT.
• Operational Excellence: Monitor integration health, usage, and performance; establish observability and escalation paths so issues are caught and resolved before they impact users.
• Market Awareness: Track the AI vendor landscape and advise leadership on emerging platforms, model releases, and consolidation opportunities across the stack.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years in technical product management, solutions engineering, integration engineering, or a similar hybrid technical/product role.
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining API-based integrations (REST, OAuth, webhooks, SSO/SAML/SCIM); able to read code, work in a terminal, and prototype independently.
• Working fluency across multiple LLM providers and platforms — not limited to a single vendor — including model capabilities, pricing/token economics, and deployment options (API, cloud marketplaces, private hosting).
• Demonstrated success managing external vendor relationships, including negotiations, escalations, and joint delivery.
• Strong communication skills; able to translate between engineers, vendors, and non-technical senior stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in legal technology or another regulated professional-services environment (financial services, healthcare, consulting).
• Familiarity with legal AI tools (e.g., Harvey, CoCounsel, Relativity aiR) and document management systems (e.g., iManage, NetDocuments).
• Experience with enterprise identity, data governance, and security review processes.
• Background in agentic AI patterns, RAG architectures, or MCP-based tool integration.