Strategic Sourcing Lead, Technology

Details

About the Team

OpenAI Finance ensures the organization is commercially, operationally, and structurally set up to deliver on OpenAI’s mission at global scale.

The Strategic Sourcing team partners with Product, Engineering, Security, Legal, and Finance to ensure OpenAI acquires the critical external technology, platforms, and services needed to launch new products, operate safely, and monetize globally with speed, resilience, and commercial discipline.

This role is based in San Francisco (hybrid, 3 days/week in office).

About the Role

We are hiring a Strategic Sourcing Lead (Ads & Consumer Verticals) to manage the commercial execution and vendor strategy across this expanding footprint.

This role will serve as the day-to-day commercial owner for a growing portfolio of vendors across brand safety, measurement and attribution, fraud prevention and invalid traffic detection technologies, health and finance applications, enabling OpenAI to launch new capabilities, enter new markets, and scale monetization without accumulating excessive cost, risk, or operational fragility.

You will report to the Technology Strategic Sourcing Lead (Product Ecosystem & Monetization) and work closely with Product, Engineering, Security, Legal, Growth, and Finance leaders to translate product roadmaps into scalable, defensible vendor strategies.

Responsibilities

• Own sourcing and commercial strategy across OpenAI’s ads technology stack and consumer verticals with a focus on health and finance.
• Run high-velocity, high-complexity deals end-to-end: from vendor strategy and RFPs through negotiation, security review, contracting, and go-live.
• Partner with Product and Engineering to ensure external vendors can support new product launches without blocking delivery or increasing risk.
• Build and manage a multi-vendor ads technology ecosystem, health and personal finance focussed tools, to support revenue growth, engagement, and cost optimization.
• Structure contracts and pricing models that preserve optionality, support rapid scaling, and minimize long-term lock-in and switching costs.
• Coordinate Security, Legal, and Privacy reviews, especially for regulated data flows (health, personal financial) and high-risk vendors.
• Own vendor lifecycle management: onboarding, ramp-ups, SLA enforcement, renewals, and re-competitions as OpenAI’s volumes and risk profile evolve.
• Act as the control plane between fast-moving product teams and external dependencies, ensuring speed without sacrificing governance, compliance, or economics.

Requirements

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have 6+ years of experience leading technology partnerships, sourcing, or commercial negotiations in a high-growth, product-driven environment.
• Have demonstrated strong cross-functional leadership and are able to align Product, Engineering, Legal, Security, and Finance around complex, high-stakes decisions.
• Are comfortable operating in regulated or high-risk domains (personal financial, health, payments, identity, data etc).
• Have a track record of negotiating commercial, technical, and data-driven agreements with technology vendors.
• Enjoy moving quickly in ambiguity while maintaining commercial discipline, compliance, and risk awareness.
• Have strong analytical skills to evaluate pricing models, volume ramps, and vendor risk in the context of revenue and product growth.
• Bring an ownership mindset—you independently drive deals, resolve blockers, and close outcomes that materially impact product launches and revenue.
• Have a desire to accelerate OpenAI’s mission by enabling better vendor partnerships, faster launches, and more effective execution at scale.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
• Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
• 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)
• Mental health and wellness support
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
• Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth
• Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
• Relocation support for eligible employees
• Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.

More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.

This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.