Business Operations drives some of OpenAI's most impactful initiatives and addresses mission-critical challenges that shape our research, product development, and go-to-market strategies, partnerships, and overall mission and company success. This small and high-performing team excels at bringing structure to ambiguity, crafting strategic direction, aligning stakeholders, and driving operational execution. Team members are highly analytical (able to break down complex business challenges using first-principles thinking), operational (able to work through obstacles and get things done), and collaborative (able to earn the trust of cross-functional stakeholders to make progress). They serve as trusted partners to leaders across the organization to ensure we achieve our most ambitious goals.
About the RoleWe are hiring a Business Operations Lead to join our dynamic, high-impact team. In this role, you will provide strategic and operational capacity to leaders across the company to manage the direction and performance of the business, and also help launch and scale new initiatives. You will work on a project-by-project basis versus directly mapping to a business line.
You’ll develop a deep understanding of our technology and business at both macro and micro levels to shape strategic direction and drive tactical execution. This includes prioritizing key initiatives, identifying growth drivers, uncovering opportunities to accelerate success, and working with teammates to make them happen. Leveraging these insights, you’ll help ensure we are building the best models, products, and strategies, while proactively tackling challenges to achieve our goals.
Success in this role requires a combination of strategic vision, sharp analytical skills, executive-level communication, and hands-on problem-solving abilities. You'll need to foster collaboration across the organization, gain alignment from stakeholders, design comprehensive solutions, and drive results.
This role is based in our San Francisco HQ. We operate on a hybrid work model with three days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance.
In this role, you will:Collaborate closely with senior leaders to shape the strategic direction and performance of key business areas, ensuring alignment with OpenAI’s overarching objectives and long-term vision.
Identify growth opportunities in collaboration with product, go-to-market, and partnerships teams.
Partner with research, product, go-to-market, partnerships and other functions to launch new initiatives – helping think through strategic implications and executing on any operational components.
Deep dive into the critical drivers of the business, enhancing operational understanding and identifying opportunities for optimization and innovation.
Develop and optimize monetization strategies, including pricing and packaging, to position our offerings competitively in the market and drive sustainable growth.
Support monthly business reviews by developing clear, data-driven narratives on performance, and presenting actionable insights and recommendations to senior leadership to inform decision-making and strategic planning.
Have 8+ years of experience in business operations, strategy, venture capital, private equity, or consulting, with at least 2 years operating within a company. We will also consider high-trajectory candidates with fewer years of experience but at top companies with a clear track record of excellence.
Have experience taking end-to-end ownership of large, ambiguous problems, and breaking them down into clear, actionable plans.
Have direct experience engaging with executives and senior leaders to influence and drive strategic decisions.
Excel under pressure, bringing a high motor and exceptional adaptability and flexibility in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
Are highly analytical – sophisticated in your understanding and approach to analyses; ability to ask and answer the most important questions, and present results clearly to leaders to influence decision making
Are comfortable operating at all altitudes – discussing strategy and vision with executives, and troubleshooting operations with individual contributors.
Have excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Are passionate about technology and artificial intelligence, and interested in its impact on business and society.
Technical background with a computer science degree or work in engineering/product
Hands-on data experience with SQL and visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Mode).
Experience working in AI.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.