Director Strategic Partnerships (Technology—AI frontier labs, major technology)

Position Summary
Bottom line: You will make Carolina the best university partner for the technology industry AI frontier labs and major technology companies and help build the next chapter of Carolinas excellence. Reporting directly to the Vice Chancellor for Innovation Entrepreneurship & Economic Development the Director owns this vertical end to end. You own your vertical and you will work shoulder-to-shoulder with the other Directors of Strategic Partnerships individual academic units (schools institutes and faculty) and the Partnership Success Managers who steward each relationship through the life of the partnership. This role demands deep industry knowledge and contacts. Table stakes on day one is the ability to pick up the phone and call the leaders of five major firms in your domain for example the leading AI frontier labs and Fortune 100 technology companies understand what they actually need and map those needs to Carolinas research capabilities faculty expertise talent pipeline and innovation infrastructure then add in what makes Carolina unique. You will run the full partnership cycle: identify the right organizations open the door (often through Carolinas 330000-strong alumni network) discover the partners real needs match them to Carolinas capabilities and close institutional-scale agreements. Once signed you remain the executive relationship anchor for renewal and expansion while Partnership Success Managers drive activation and delivery. Carolina has the assets to be this centurys best university partner: $200M in active industry research 674 corporate partners 929 active agreements across 97 departments 200 IP-based startups generating $8 billion in annual economic impact and an alumni network 330000 strong (with 180 verified Director-and-above leaders inside Fortune 1000 firms). What Carolina has not yet built is a single front door and that gap costs roughly tens of millions in research and support relative to peers. You are hired to close it. Carolina North a once-in-the-life-of-the-institution development is envisioned as a place where partners can plant a flag: co-locate teams build centers and build the future alongside Carolina faculty and students. The Director hired into this role will define how Carolina shows up to industry for the next decade.

Required Qualifications Competencies And Experience
* Bachelors degree and 10 years of specific industry experience; or a Masters degree and 5 years of specific industry experience. Specific industry experience means direct hands-on experience within or selling into the industry vertical relevant to this position. * Deep current industry experience and contacts in the vertical you bring an active personal network of senior leaders you can reach directly not a list you would need to build. * AI as a teammate. You already use frontier AI tools every day to research draft analyze and move faster and you can show specifically how you do it. Carolina expects this role to be an operational leader in applying AI to accelerate the work. * A strong desire for self-directed autonomous work. You set your own pace operate on more forgiveness than permission and deliver high-quality outcomes without close supervision. * A track record of building trusted relationships with senior leaders across business government and academia and translating complex needs into creative executable solutions. * Excellent written verbal and executive-level communication smart brevity and the credibility to represent Carolina in front of a C-suite. * The ability to collaborate across a matrixed institution with the other Directors of Strategic Partnerships deans faculty development legal counsel and Partnership Success Managers and to build relationships with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds. * A creative strategic results-oriented work style and a genuine commitment to public service and Carolinas mission.

Preferred Qualifications Competencies And Experience
We are looking for unique multi disciplinary skill sets. These qualifications are intentionally aspirational and filtering; the strongest candidates will meet most of them. * A personal track record of sourcing and closing $25M in cumulative partnerships sponsored-research agreements MOUs or strategic commercial deals over your career including at least one institutional-scale agreement closed with a C-suite or senior-executive counterpart at a Fortune 1000 or comparable organization. * Day-one access to the leaders of at least five marquee firms in your domain. You can pick up the phone today and reach senior decision-makers (VP-level and above) at the category-defining organizations in your domain the leading AI frontier labs hyperscale cloud providers and Fortune 100 technology companies and they will take your call. * 10 years of direct experience inside or selling into the technology and frontier-AI sector. * Demonstrated ability to translate complex organizational capabilities research talent intellectual property programs infrastructure into customized value propositions that solve real partner problems with a written proposal delivered in 30 days or less. * Experience negotiating contracts and partnership agreements in coordination with legal counsel executive leadership faculty and operating partners. * CRM proficiency (Salesforce or comparable): fluency in pipeline management opportunity forecasting and deal-stage discipline. * Familiarity with the university research enterprise technology transfer sponsored research administration or higher-education industry engagement is a strong plus. * Willingness and ability to travel within North Carolina and nationally as needed.