Director, IP Licensing & Partnerships

About the Role

Teachstone is seeking a Director of IP Licensing & Partnerships to help shape how our intellectual property, content, data, and AI-enabled capabilities are protected, extended, and translated into long-term business value.

This role sits at the intersection of product, legal, technology, and go-to-market strategy. You will lead the evaluation, structuring, negotiation, and operationalization of strategic partnerships while helping establish scalable frameworks for IP governance, licensing, and responsible innovation.

This is a highly cross-functional leadership role requiring strong strategic judgment, comfort operating in ambiguity, and the ability to balance innovation with business, legal, and operational risk. This role requires up to 25% travel.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Strategic Partnerships & External Relationships

• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize strategic partnership opportunities across technology, research, AI, content, distribution, and platform ecosystems
• Lead partnership lifecycle management from opportunity assessment through negotiation, launch, governance, and ongoing performance evaluation
• Structure and negotiate agreements including licensing, integrations, co-development partnerships, vendor relationships, and data-sharing arrangements
• Conduct vendor and partner evaluations with a focus on strategic fit, scalability, security, operational complexity, and long-term business value
• Develop clear recommendations on whether opportunities should move forward, evolve, or be discontinued

Intellectual Property Strategy & Governance

• Partner closely with Legal and Product leadership to operationalize Teachstone’s IP strategy across content, products, data, and AI-enabled experiences
• Help establish governance frameworks and guardrails related to AI usage, derivative outputs, data rights, content licensing, and video-based technologies
• Support protection and responsible extension of company intellectual property, trademarks, frameworks, and proprietary content
• Identify and proactively mitigate risks related to IP misuse, licensing exposure, data governance, and partnership obligations
• Work alongside external counsel and internal stakeholders on licensing structures, partnership agreements, and IP-related matters

Commercial Strategy & Monetization

• Contribute to pricing, packaging, and monetization models for IP-driven offerings and partnerships
• Support build vs. buy vs. partner evaluations with a strong strategic and financial perspective
• Ensure partnerships align to product strategy, customer outcomes, operational readiness, and long-term company goals
• Help translate emerging market opportunities into actionable business recommendations

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner across Product, Engineering, Legal, Growth, Operations, and Executive Leadership teams
• Translate complex agreements into operational plans with clear ownership, dependencies, and success measures
• Drive alignment across stakeholders with competing priorities and perspectives
• Help establish scalable internal processes for evaluating and managing partnerships and licensing opportunities

Performance & Strategic Insights

• Define and track partnership success metrics including strategic impact, adoption, revenue contribution, operational leverage, and risk exposure
• Monitor partnership performance and recommend scale, optimization, renegotiation, or exit decisions
• Bring a strong point of view on market trends, strategic opportunities, and emerging risks to inform leadership decision-making