Strategic Program Manager, External AI Ecosystem Partnerships

The Lenovo AI Technology Center (LATC) - Lenovo's global AI Center of Excellence - is driving our transformation into an AI-first organization. We are assembling a world-class team of researchers, engineers, and innovators to position Lenovo and its customers at the forefront of the generational shift toward AI. Lenovo is one of the world's leading computing companies, delivering products across the entire technology spectrum, spanning wearables, smartphones (Motorola), laptops (ThinkPad, Yoga), PCs, workstations, servers, and services/solutions. This unmatched breadth gives us a unique canvas for AI innovation, including the ability to rapidly deploy cutting-edge foundation models and to enable flexible, hybrid-cloud, and agentic computing across our full product portfolio. To this end, we are building the next wave of AI core technologies and platforms that leverage and evolve with the fast-moving AI ecosystem, including novel models and agentic orchestration & collaboration across mobile, edge, and cloud resources. This space is evolving fast and so are we. If you're ready to shape AI at a truly global scale, with products that touch every corner of life and work, there's no better time to join us. #LATC

Job Summary

As the Program Manager for LATC's External AI-Ecosystem Partnerships, you will be the operational backbone of our global research collaboration strategy. You will initiate and manage a diverse portfolio of AI-heavy engagements involving top-tier universities, AI startups, and industry partners to ensure that external AI innovation translates into concrete value for our technology roadmaps.

The ideal candidate is a pragmatic, self-starting, disciplined project leader who can bridge the gap between academic research, industrial development, and commercial product requirements. You must be deeply versed in the current AI-landscape, including key players, emerging models, and industry trends, and drive the entire lifecycle of an engagement - from initial intake and technical evaluation to legal coordination and milestone-based delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Portfolio Management: Oversee the day-to-day operations of a global AI-focused research portfolio, ensuring that all projects maintain a rigorous cadence of technical reviews and progress tracking.
• AI landscape scouting: Stay current on the AI ecosystem to help identify high-potential startups and academic labs that align with our strategic goals.
• Engagement Lifecycle: Lead the intake process for new proposals, facilitating collaboration between internal research & engineering teams and external partners to define clear technical scope and deliverables.
• Operational Rigor: Maintain the internal governance framework, including standardized evaluation rubrics, project scoring, and "go/pivot/no-go" decision gates.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Act as the primary liaison between R&D, Legal, Intellectual Property (IP) teams to streamline contracting and data governance.
• Outcome Tracking: Monitor the delivery of high-value artifacts - such as code, AI models, and technical prototypes - to ensure they meet integration-readiness standards.
• Talent & Visibility: Support programs that enhance the Lenovo brand within the AI research community, including managing fellowships, internships, and our presence at major conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML).

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree required, Masters preferred.
• Experience: Minimum 8 years of industry experience.
• Program Leadership: Significant experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder R&D programs or innovation portfolios.
• AI knowledge: Exposure to current AI technology stack, including familiarity with LLMs, generative AI, machine learning workflows, and key companies/researchers shaping the industry.
• Operational Excellence: Proven ability to manage recurring review cycles, maintain project hygiene, and track milestones across dozens of active workstreams.
• Strategic Alignment: Ability to evaluate technical proposals against business roadmaps and identify potential for product integration.
• Contracting & IP Fluency: Experience working with Legal and IP teams to navigate research agreements, Statements of Work (SOWs), and IP boundaries.
• Communication: Exceptional skills in translating complex AI research progress into executive-level reporting and portfolio summaries.