Director of AI Partnerships

Riverside Overview

Riverside Research is an independent National Security Nonprofit dedicated to research and development in the national interest. We provide high-end technical services, research and development, and prototype solutions to some of the country's most challenging technical problems.

All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship.

Position Overview

Riverside Research is seeking an experienced Director of AI Partnerships to identify, build, and maintain relationships with AI community stakeholders and frontier AI companies to support the advancement of innovation for national security on an enterprise-wide Research and Development (R&D) program portfolio and prime contract in support of the U.S. Department of War (DoW). As the Director of AI Partnerships, you will be leading strategic partnerships and building and maintaining robust, executive-level relationships with frontier AI companies and across the broader AI ecosystem. The Director of AI Partnerships leads the negotiation of partnership terms and agreements with frontier AI companies, ensuring they align with overall program strategic, financial, and security objectives.

This position is located in Fairfax, VA.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify, build, and maintain trusted relationships with U.S. Government (USG) AI teams, organizations, and stakeholders as well as with current and emerging frontier AI companies
• Lead the negotiation of partnership terms and agreements with frontier AI companies, ensuring they align with the R&D program portfolio's strategic, financial, and security objectives
• Serve as the primary point of contact for all R&D program portfolio strategic partners, fostering deep alignment and collaborative working relationships
• Design, implement, and track KPIs and other metrics to measure the success and health of each frontier AI company partnership
• Provide regular, detailed reports and formal briefings on partnership status, performance, and strategic outlook to executive leadership and key stakeholders with the AI community
• Analyze performance data to generate actionable insights and provide recommendations for partnership optimization and R&D program portfolio strategy development
• Act as the central conduit between frontier AI companies and university teams, USG AI stakeholders, and internal Riverside Research personnel
• Support meetings with frontier AI companies to create alignment between project needs and emerging AI, model, and compute capabilities, maintaining an awareness of and ability to influence the direction of emerging AI products and solutions
• Develop and manage a formal process for onboarding new frontier AI partners and enabling internal teams to effectively utilize new partner technologies and resources
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Minimum Requirements:

• B.A. and 15 years related experience/M.S. degree and 12 years experience in engineering, computer science, business, management, or related field
• 12+ years of experience in project management, engineering leadership, or business operations
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in product management, business development, strategic alliances, or corporate development in support of frontier AI partnerships
• 5+ years of experience supporting non-traditional acquisition efforts to include direct experience with Other Transaction Authority (OTA) or Commercial Solutions Openings (CSO) contract vehicles
• Familiarity with the state-of-the-art, R&D best practices, and go-to-market strategies in one or more of the following areas: AI/ML, high performance cloud computing, Agentic AI systems and platforms, dual-use (i.e., Commercial / Government) AI applications and solutions
• Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder coordination skills
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi‑stakeholder technical projects
• Active TS clearance and ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• B.A., J.D., or Ph.D. degree
• Prior experience managing or collaborating on fundamental research or R&D efforts with DARPA, IARPA, NSF, and university teams
• TS/SCI clearance

Global Comp

$190,000 - $250,000 This represents the typical compensation range for this position based on experience, location and other factors.

Closing Statement

Riverside Research Institute is a not-for-profit, technology-oriented defense company, where service to our customers and support of our staff is our overall mission. Riverside is an affirmative action-equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding recruitment and hiring. Riverside offers comprehensive compensation and benefit packages to our employees.
Riverside bases its employment decisions solely on technical experience, qualifications and other job-related criteria related to our organizational purpose as a not-for-profit company, and without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, veteran's status or any other status legally protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.