Business Development Manager- AI ISVs and Ecosystem

About Us

The AI Ecosystem organization under Lenovo Intelligent Devices Group (IDG) is a community of innovative thinkers, risk-takers, and people who challenge the status quo. We strive to put more innovation in the hands of more people, so they can do more amazing things. We want passionate, enthusiastic, and driven professionals who want to make an impact in a fast-paced global technology environment to join our team, as we aim to deliver seamlessly integrated AI experiences across our Lenovo and Motorola devices and customer segments.

Position Overview

We are looking for a dynamic Business Development Manager - AI ISV Ecosystem to drive the identification, development, and execution of partnerships with leading third-party ISVs (Independent Software Vendors). This role focuses on shaping best-in-class user experiences by aligning ISV solutions with our AI platform initiatives.

You will be responsible for strategically mapping partnership needs, narrowing priorities through planning workshops, and ensuring smooth execution through close coordination with Product, Development, and PMO teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify Partnership Opportunities: Scout and prioritize ISV partnerships aligned with desired AI user experiences; proactively identify experience-driven partnership gaps.

• Lead Planning and Prioritization: Conduct planning sessions and workshops with internal teams and external ISVs to refine and align on partnership priorities.

• Map Ecosystem Needs Across Timeline: Build and maintain a strategic roadmap categorizing ISV partnership needs across near-term, mid-term, and long-term horizons.

• Create & Execute Partnership Plans: Develop detailed execution plans to onboard and integrate ISV solutions, ensuring alignment with product roadmaps and customer experiences.

• Manage Handoffs and Execution: Oversee smooth transitions between Business Development, Product, Development, and PMO teams to deliver against partnership goals.

• Drive Co-Innovation: Collaborate with ISVs to explore co-development, co-branding, and differentiated AI experiences.

• Monitor Partnership Performance: Define success metrics and track partner performance against joint goals, ensuring early identification of risks or misalignments.

• Key Partner Management: Manage relationships with major third-party ISVs such as Perplexity, Expedia, and other strategic software partners.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of Experience in ISV, Ecosystem, Business, Strategic Partnership Development/Management in a global setting.

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business or related field is required.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of Experience building, scaling, and managing global ISV ecosystems.

• 2+ years of Leadership Experience supporting AI innovation and emerging technologies, including AI APIs, SDKs and Developer Ecosystems.

• Expertise managing relationships with both internal and ISV partners, ensuring best practices across Marketplaces, Partner Integration Frameworks and SaaS platforms are in place.

• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills.

• Strong storytelling skills to drive timelines and evangelize on partner impact across internal and external partnerships.

• Experience driving cross-functional alignment across global Business Development, Product, Engineering, and Program Management organizations.

• Proven success handling opportunity mapping and executing on plan.

• Willingness to drive data-driven decision making in a fast-paced environment.

• Deep understanding of ISV dynamics, developer platforms, and partner success models.

• Master's or Advanced Degree is a plus.

Why Join Us?

• Help define and grow a cutting-edge AI ISV ecosystem.

• Collaborate with industry-leading innovators at the forefront of AI technology.

• Influence the future of AI user experiences across devices and services.