Associate Director Business Strategy

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What you’ll be doing ...The Associate Director of Strategy will be responsible for shaping and executing the strategic growth and partnership initiatives for Verizon’s AI Connect (AIC) portfolio. This leadership role, supporting the Senior Director of Business Development & Strategy, will oversee the strategic roadmap, manage relationships with key ecosystem players (including GPU and data center providers), and drive cross-play commercial strategy to ensure revenue and EBITDA growth.

Success in this position requires expertise in AI infrastructure and edge compute markets, alongside the ability to collaborate with internal and external cross-functional teams to align strategic initiatives with broader organizational goals. The leader will manage end-to-end partner relationships, establish commercial governance, and communicate the AIC vision to stakeholders at all levels.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead a team of 4 direct reports focused on Product Integration, Ecosystem Strategy, Market & Growth, and Strategy & Performance. Cultivate a culture of operational excellence, empowering members to take ownership of their initiatives. Define and execute the AIC growth strategy, strategic roadmap, and new market/adjacency opportunity pipeline. Identify, establish, and manage strategic partnerships with GPU providers, data center operators, and cloud infrastructure partners.

Manage end-to-end partner relationships, program KPIs, and commercial contract negotiations. Drive cross-play commercial strategy and Space, Power & Cooling business development and GTM execution, ensuring initiatives are tracked against their underlying business case commitments.

Maintain visibility into business case commitments against AIC strategic initiatives, flagging dependencies and delivery risks to leadership early.

Collaborate across teams (Finance, Product & Segment Marketing, Tech Solutions, TPD, GTS, Legal) to facilitate product launch efforts, ensuring stakeholder alignment andsmooth execution.

Cultivate a culture of operational excellence and accountability within the team, empowering members to excel and take ownership of their initiatives.

This position can be located in other valid Verizon locations.

What we’re looking for...You’ll need to have:

Bachelor’s degree or four or more years of work experience.

Eight or more years of relevant experience required, demonstrated through one or a combination of work and/or military experience, or specialized training.

Eight or more years of work experience in product/platform, partnership, or technical experience in B2B companies.

Six or more years of partner-facing experience.

Even better if you have one or more of the following:

A Master’s degree – ideally an MBA.Analytical and critical thinking skills.

Deep technical knowledge of the VBG portfolio.

Experience in Business Development, Corporate Strategy, or specialized AI/Cloud BD roles. Exceptional communication skills; written, oral and presentation.

Executive grade presentation skills with emphasis on storytelling and cross-functional alignment.

Convey your ideas in compelling and persuasive ways to a…