VP - LLMs, Discovery & Intent

Dentsu International Americas, LLC; New York (NY); On-site; USD 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, vision, dental insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance (short/long-term)

401k

Flexible paid time off

15+ paid holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

Dentsu in New York is seeking a Vice President of Partnerships to lead a portfolio of LLM-focused collaborations and drive the enterprise AI strategy across the agency ecosystem. You will negotiate technical and commercial terms, align with product and engineering, and accelerate client value through managed partnerships.

The role requires senior leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and a track record of delivering measurable business impact in digital partnerships.

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience in digital partnerships or investment leadership.
• 5+ years’ experience managing a team and leading high-performing groups.
• Exceptional project management and deadline discipline.
• Excellent verbal and written communications with C-level audiences.
• Ability to translate complex ideas into actionable solutions.

Responsibilities

• Own and lead a portfolio of LLM-focused partnerships with providers and platforms.
• Translate market intelligence and client needs into a comprehensive annual LLM partnership strategy.
• Identify and cultivate new LLM and generative AI partnership opportunities.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Data Science to align partnerships with roadmaps.
• Design integrated go-to-market strategies leveraging LLM partnerships.
• Govern, report on performance, and ensure compliance across partnerships.
• Represent the organization as an AI thought leader in market-facing opportunities.

Skills

Partnership leadership

Team leadership

Project management

Executive communication

Strategic thinking

Problem solving

Translating ideas into solutions

Tools

Model providers

Vector databases

Job description

Job Description: The Marketplace & Partnerships division is responsible for all elements of strategic partnerships for the dentsu Media practice in the US. The team sits at the intersection of dentsu’s media agencies (Carat, iProspect and dentsuX), clients, investment and activation communities, and Amplifi, the commercial innovation arm for dentsu. The team is responsible for translating the business needs of dentsu’s clients, the strategic and commercial imperatives of dentsu itself, as well as emergent and established trends across the industry and society into strategic, value-driven, and beneficial partnerships. They also set the strategic agenda for partnerships at dentsu in the marketplace, how that pertains to new business and in product/solution design within dentsu. This VP role focuses on the rapidly evolving landscape of Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI platforms, and model infrastructure. Sitting at the intersection of enterprise AI strategy, product innovation, engineering, and commercial operations, this role ensures that the organization has the right LLM partners, capabilities, and commercial agreements to accelerate growth and deliver differentiated value for clients.

The VP will operate as an enterprise subject matter expert in LLMs—including foundation models, finetuning partners, vector database vendors, model ops platforms, and safety/guardrail technologies. They will define our LLM partnership strategy, negotiate and structure commercial and technical agreements, and ensure that these partnerships align with the strategic, innovative, and value driven objectives of the organization. The VP will contribute meaningfully to the broader AI partnership vision across all channels and business units. Reporting into the SVP, Commerce & Intent Partnerships Lead, this role will be tasked with contributing their core objectives towards the overall partnership strategy and vision across all channels.matter expert in LLMs—including foundation models, fine‑tuning partners, vector database vendors, model‑ops platforms, and safety/guardrail technologies. They will define our LLM partnership strategy, negotiate and structure commercial and technical agreements, and ensure that these partnerships align with the strategic, innovative, and value‑driven objectives of the organization. The VP will contribute meaningfully to the broader AI partnership vision across all channels and business units. Given the cross‑functional nature of AI transformation, this role will collaborate with product, engineering, data science, legal, security, media, and commercial teams to create mutually beneficial outcomes. The VP will also provide senior leadership with insights on market evolution, emerging risks, competitive differentiation, and partnership performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and lead a portfolio of LLM focused partnerships, including model providers, infrastructure platforms, safety/guardrail vendors, and model ops technologies.
• Translate market intelligence, client needs, and internal priorities into a comprehensive annual LLM partnership strategy.
• Identify, vet, and cultivate new LLM and gen‑AI partnership opportunities that enhance product innovation and enterprise capabilities.
• Serve as a senior subject‑matter expert on LLM technologies, while representing adjacent AI domains in partnership conversations.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Data Science to ensure LLM partnerships align with capability roadmaps, model requirements, and value‑creation goals.
• Work cross‑functionally across AI, media, creative, and commercial teams to design integrated go‑to‑market strategies leveraging LLM partners.
• Evaluate commercial viability and technical compatibility of LLM opportunities; ensure each partnership is optimized for performance, safety, and cost efficiency.
• Act as a problem solver and integrator, coordinating multiple stakeholders and maintaining forward momentum across complex partnership initiatives.
• Drive excellence in LLM partnership governance, reporting, compliance, and enablement across the organization.
• Represent the organization as an AI thought leader in market‑facing opportunities (panels, PR, partner events) within the LLM domain.
• Provide communication, documentation, and knowledge management for all LLM partnerships, ensuring transparency, alignment, and adoption across teams.
• Support client conversations and new‑business pitches as the LLM expert and AI partnership lead.
• Liaise and partner with Product and Solutions organizations to facilitate partnership development and capability creation within dentsu.
• Consult on client business to build custom partnership plans and subject‑matter expertise of partner landscape.

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience within the digital industry as a partnership or investment lead at a reputable agency or partner.
• 5+ years’ experience management of a team – with the ability to lead a highly successful team.
• Consistent exceptional project management, ability to prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communications, presentation, and analytical skills; must be comfortable working with and presenting sophisticated metrics to C-level.
• Ability to retain professionalism in all situations.
• Passion for problem‑solving and collaboration across teams.
• Ability to translate complex ideas into actionable solutions.

Benefits available with this position include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance,
• Life insurance,
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance,
• 401k,
• Flexible paid time off,
• At least 15 paid holidays per year,
• Paid sick and safe leave,
• Paid parental leave.

Dentsu also complies with applicable state and local laws regarding employee leave benefits, including, but not limited to providing time off pursuant to the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, in accordance with its plans and policies. For further details regarding Dentsu benefits, please visit www.dentsubenefitsplus.com.

Location: New York

Brand: Amplifi

Time Type: Full time

Contract Type: Permanent

Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Dentsu is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e‑mail to [e-mail] by clicking on the link to let us know the nature of your accommodation request and your contact information. We are here to support you.

About dentsu

For over 120 years, innovation has been a core tenet of our offering – exploring new ways to reach, engage and nurture relationships with audiences. Together we drive a multiplier effect for clients at a global scale, through the development of Integrated Growth Solutions that are underpinned by our promise to clients: innovating to impact. Be a force for good. Sustainability is a vital part of our business and an important area of focus for our clients. We’re leading the way – helping to build a more sustainable planet. Dream loud. In this moment of transformation, we need our people to be fearless, embracing change and ambiguity, driven by the love for their work and excitement for the future. Team without limits. We create opportunities for connection and collaboration between our colleagues and clients, building a sense of belonging and having some fun along the way.

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