Director, Business Development & Deal Lead - Commercial

POSITION SUMMARY Veritone’s GTM organization is at a pivotal moment as we both grow our SaaS solutions and a high-scale Agentic AI ecosystem. The Special Situations team is a small, elite group responsible for executing the company’s most complex, high-stakes, and non-standard commercial opportunities. As a Deal Lead, you will sit at the intersection of Sales, Finance, Legal, and Product. You will be responsible for the end-to-end execution of "outlier" deals—those that don't fit into a standard playbook but represent significant strategic value or massive revenue potential. These may include large-scale data licensing partnerships, sovereign AI infrastructure builds, or complex multimodal transformations for global media conglomerates. This is a hands-on execution role for a strategist who can navigate ambiguity, architect creative commercial structures, and drive internal consensus across the highest levels of the organization. ‎ WHAT YOU'LL DO Lead Complex Deal Cycles: Manage the strategy and execution for Veritone’s most complex, "bespoke" commercial opportunities from inception to close. Architect Creative Structures: Design non-standard commercial models, including consumption-based pricing, revenue-share frameworks, and strategic joint ventures. Drive Internal Consensus: Act as the "deal quarterback," aligning stakeholders across Legal, Finance, Product, and Engineering to approve and support unique deal requirements. Lead High-Stakes Negotiations: Direct the negotiation strategy for large-scale enterprise agreements, ensuring Veritone’s long-term interests and "Source of Truth" principles are protected. Develop New Playbooks: Distill learnings from "Special Situations" into repeatable frameworks that can eventually be scaled across the broader GTM organization. Cross-Functional Partnership: Work closely with the CEO, CRO, and CFO to evaluate the strategic trade-offs of major partnerships. Market Sensing: Identify emerging market shifts and "special" competitive threats to inform our corporate strategy. ‎ WHAT YOU'LL NEED 8+ years of experience: In high-stakes environments such as investment banking, management consulting, corporate development, or "Special Situations" desks at major tech firms. Deal Architecting: A proven track record of closing multi-million dollar deals that required unique structural or legal creativity. Executive-Level Negotiation: Experience leading negotiations with C-suite executives at global Fortune 500 companies. Technical & Financial Fluency: The ability to model complex financial outcomes while deeply understanding AI technical constraints (e.g., inference costs, data provenance, and tokenization). Strategic Reasoning: Exceptional ability to synthesize complex information and provide clear, decisive recommendations to leadership. You might thrive in this role if you: Are a High-Stakes Operator: You thrive when the pressure is on and the path forward is unclear. You enjoy the challenge of solving "unsolvable" deal blockers. Are a Rigorous Thinker: You don't take "no" for an answer when it comes to logic. You challenge assumptions and use first-principles thinking to find creative paths to "Yes." Are a Master Communicator: You can explain a 50-page complex contract structure to a CEO in a 2-minute elevator pitch. Are Customer-Obsessed but Company-First: You are motivated to help customers achieve their vision, but you are a fierce protector of Veritone’s long-term value and intellectual property. Are a Strategist: You understand the "Messy Middle" of internal consensus and can move a deal through a massive organization without losing momentum. DISCLOSURE Our company provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. (Colorado & California Only*): The posted annual salary range provided is of $140,000.00 to $150,000.00. This base pay is for illustrative purposes only and will be determined based on skills and experience comparable to the job requirements. This position may be eligible for additional compensation and benefits including but not limited to: incentive compensation; health benefits; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off; parental leave and benefits; and other employee perks and benefits. *Note: Disclosure as required by sb19-085 (8-5-20) of the minimum salary compensation for this role when being hired in California & Colorado. ‎