Data Center Security Technical Lead

Details

About the Team

Security is at the foundation of OpenAI’s mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. The Security team protects OpenAI’s technology, people, and products. The team is technical in what it builds and operational in how it works, supporting products and research across the company. Team tenets include prioritizing for impact, enabling researchers, preparing for future transformative technologies, and engaging a robust security culture.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic cybersecurity leader to drive the vision and execution of cyber defense and security architecture for OpenAI’s rapidly expanding datacenter footprint across multiple, diverse environments. You will lead a multidisciplinary team to ensure the security of infrastructure programs, including key projects already in flight. This role is open to remote employees based in the US, and relocation assistance is available to OpenAI offices in San Francisco, Seattle, or New York City.

Responsibilities

• Spearhead the overall security vision, architecture, execution, and sustained operations to protect data center infrastructure across a global footprint.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a diverse, distributed, and multidisciplinary team of security professionals across multiple timezones.
• Integrate hardware-rooted trust, segmented enclaves, side-channel mitigations, and insider-risk countermeasures tuned for persistent, well-resourced adversaries.
• Drive security design reviews, threat modeling, supply-chain risk assessments, secure provisioning, runtime monitoring, incident response, and structured decommissioning.
• Deeply collaborate with engineering, operations, and security teams to define, implement, enforce, and evolve security best practices, including network segmentation, physical security, identity management, and access control policies.
• Engage with suppliers and partners to evaluate and mitigate risks associated with third-party hardware, firmware, and software dependencies.
• Prepare and deliver executive-level updates on risk posture, compliance, incident status, and program progress.
• Ensure facilities meet the strictest compliance requirements and continually evolve data center security in response to advances in cybersecurity controls, adversary activity, and model-related risk.

Requirements

• 15+ years in security, including 10+ years leading large-scale infrastructure or datacenter programs with global scope.
• Proven track record protecting hyperscale, colocation, or hybrid environments against sophisticated adversaries, including insider threats and close-access attacks.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, developing, and retaining multidisciplinary security teams across time zones and cultures.
• Deep knowledge of security design and operations, including host-level hardening, network segmentation, IAM/PAM, secure provisioning, firmware and bare-metal security, and governance frameworks.
• Strong familiarity with control frameworks (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, SOC 2) and experience driving compliance in regulated environments.

Benefits & Compensation

• Base salary range listed: $324,000 - $490,000 (range may vary by market location, experience, and other individualized factors). Total compensation may include equity, performance-related bonus (if eligible), and benefits.
• Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance (with employer contributions to HSAs), pre-tax accounts (Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter), 401(k) with employer match, paid parental and medical/caregiver leave, paid time off, company holidays and office closures, mental health and wellness support, employer-paid basic life and disability coverage, annual learning & development stipend, daily meals in offices (and meal credits as eligible), relocation support for eligible employees, and additional taxable fringe benefits (charitable matching, wellness stipends).

Other Notes

• Background checks will be administered in accordance with applicable law for US-based candidates.
• OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.