AI Vendor Integrations Associate Director

IL LLP•Chicago, IL

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a technical AI Vendor Integrations Associate Director to lead the Firm's relationships with AI and technology vendors and serve as the hands-on technical lead for integrating solutions across our AI ecosystem. This role extends well beyond managing deployments of tools like Claude or GPT. The ideal candidate will evaluate, integrate, and operationalize a broad portfolio of AI platforms, legal technology solutions, and enterprise systems, connecting APIs, data flows, and integrations to transform vendor capabilities into practical, scalable solutions for the Firm. Sitting at the intersection of product management and solutions engineering, this individual will serve as the primary technical liaison for vendors. They will translate the Firm's business and technical requirements into integration strategies, oversee implementation, and hold vendors accountable for delivering secure, reliable, and high-performing solutions.

Requirements

A minimum of 10 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.
Strong organizational skills
Strong attention to detail
Good judgment
Strong interpersonal communication skills
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Able to work harmoniously and effectively with others
Able to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion
Able to work under pressure
Able to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines and priorities
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

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.
Design, build, and maintain integrations between vendor platforms and firm systems — including APIs, SDKs, webhooks, SSO/identity, and emerging standards such as Model Context Protocol (MCP) — across multiple AI providers (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft) and legal/enterprise tools.
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.
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.
Translate stakeholder needs into technical requirements, integration specs, and prioritized backlogs; manage delivery timelines across vendors and internal IT.
Monitor integration health, usage, and performance; establish observability and escalation paths so issues are caught and resolved before they impact users.
Track the AI vendor landscape and advise leadership on emerging platforms, model releases, and consolidation opportunities across the stack.