Director of Strategic Finance, Payments & Platform

Details

The Strategic Finance team provides financial insights and guidance to support the organization's long-term goals and strategies. The Applications Technology Strategic Finance team focuses on managing financial performance for products, including revenue forecasting and analytics, pricing, and unit economics.

This role will serve as the primary finance partner to the Payments and Integrity organizations, partnering closely with Product and Engineering to accelerate growth, optimize investment decisions, and own financial planning for the Payments and Integrity platform. The position is based in San Francisco, CA with a hybrid work model (3 days in office per week) and relocation assistance is offered.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary strategic finance partner for Payments and Integrity Product and Engineering teams; own the payments and platform fees line item on the P&L, including forecasting, variance analysis, and assessing margin impact as volumes scale.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Business Development to influence payments-related decisions (checkout design, vendor selection, commercial deal structures) with a focus on optimizing net revenue and contribution margin.
• Own end-to-end economics of payments: processing fees, network costs, chargebacks, refunds, and fraud losses; translate these dynamics into product and pricing tradeoffs.
• Drive payments cost optimization initiatives, including vendor negotiations, routing strategy, regional expansion tradeoffs, and tooling investments.
• Lead quarterly and long-range planning for the payments cost base to ensure sustainable scaling alongside new monetization models (including emerging commerce and agent-initiated transactions).
• Support special projects to improve, automate, and scale forecasting and reporting tools, processes, and methodologies.
• Stay current on market trends and competitive dynamics to refine financial strategies.
• Collaborate with Accounting and FP&A teams to evolve financial forecasting and reporting processes.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in investment banking, consulting, or buy-side investing coupled with operational experience at a fast-paced, scaling company.
• Experience owning budgets for major functional areas and working with operators on day-to-day execution to hit targets.
• Experience building and reviewing highly complex models, specifically in payments.
• Strong ability to critically evaluate opportunities and risks in financials and distill complex financial data into actionable insights for leadership.
• Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy in financial reporting and analysis.
• Enthusiasm for technology and artificial intelligence.
• Experience with SQL, or willingness to learn.

Benefits

• Base salary range: $265,000 - $325,000 per year; offers equity and total compensation may vary by location, skills, and experience.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• 401(k) plan with 50% matching.
• Unlimited time off and 13 company holidays per year.
• Paid parental leave (24 weeks paid birth-parent leave & 20-week paid parental leave) and family-planning support.
• Annual learning & development stipend ($1,500 per year).
• Relocation assistance for new employees.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company focused on creating and safely deploying general-purpose artificial intelligence that benefits all of humanity. The company emphasizes safety, diverse perspectives, and inclusivity and is an equal opportunity employer. Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law, and reasonable accommodations are provided to applicants with disabilities.