Research Program Manager

Details

OpenAI’s Research Program Management team partners with researchers and engineers to advance the development of increasingly capable, safe, and beneficial AI systems. The team works with groups developing core models and supports coordinated execution across model training, alignment and safety, and research infrastructure. It also collaborates with Security, Applied product and engineering, Strategy, and Scaling.

Responsibilities

• Embed with research teams and drive technically complex work behind AI model development.
• Support work spanning training, reasoning, evaluations, compute, research infrastructure, safety, model launch readiness, and governance.
• Translate evolving research priorities into actionable programs.
• Help teams navigate technical and operational tradeoffs.
• Keep important work moving as new issues emerge.
• Engage directly with research workflows, experimental results, technical systems, and engineering constraints.
• Coordinate complex, ambiguous technical initiatives across multiple teams and stakeholders.
• Help researchers and engineers make sound decisions with incomplete information.
• Introduce effective structure without creating unnecessary processes.
• Communicate clearly with researchers, engineers, and organizational leaders.
• Advance AI research responsibly and help ensure increasingly capable systems benefit humanity.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in research program management, technical program management, or related roles in fast-moving environments.
• Ability to engage substantively with researchers and engineers on model training, experimental design, model safety, evaluation methods, data workflows, compute infrastructure, or distributed systems.
• Comfort working directly with technical tools, research data, experimental results, or operational workflows.
• Strong track record of moving complex, ambiguous technical initiatives forward.
• Ability to distinguish known information from uncertainty and ask incisive technical questions.
• High standards for quality and ability to recognize when evidence, evaluation results, or execution plans require closer scrutiny.
• Clear communication across technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Ownership, adaptability, and persistence in following difficult problems through to resolution.

Benefits

• Base salary of $239,000–$328,000 per year.
• Equity, performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and comprehensive benefits.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts and commuter benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, company holidays, and paid office closures.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily office meals and eligible meal delivery credits.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.
• The role is based in San Francisco, California, with a hybrid work model requiring three days in the office per week.