Supply Chain Operations Program Manager, AI Infrastructure

Details

About the Team

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform.

About the Role

We are seeking an Operations Program Manager (OPM) to serve as the single-threaded operational leader for new hardware introductions (NPI) and production ramps across OpenAI’s AI infrastructure systems.

This role combines hands-on execution with strategic ownership. You will be responsible for defining the operating model, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, setting the critical path, making informed tradeoffs, escalating decisively, and ensuring hardware programs deliver on schedule, quality, cost, and scalability.

Success in this role requires comfort operating in ambiguity, influencing without authority, and driving alignment across internal teams and external partners while keeping a focus on long-term system scalability and repeatability.

Responsibilities

Strategic and Leadership Ownership

• Act as the single-threaded owner for operational readiness across NPI and ramp, accountable for outcomes from early bring-up through sustained production.
• Translate OpenAI’s infrastructure strategy and engineering objectives into clear operating plans, execution priorities, and decision frameworks.
• Drive alignment across Engineering, Operations, Strategic Sourcing, Finance, Capacity Planning, and executive stakeholders by framing tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations.
• Proactively identify inflection points where decisions or investments are required to protect long-term scale, reliability, or cost targets.
• Influence operational strategy with manufacturing partners by setting expectations on execution rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Program Execution and Operational Excellence

• Drive overall NPI build readiness, including material accountability, manufacturing and test readiness, product data availability, factory infrastructure, and qualification plans.
• Lead transition activities from NPI to mass production, partnering closely with Sustaining Operations teams to ensure seamless ownership transfer.
• Translate engineering requirements into actionable, factory-ready plans with tier-1 manufacturing and integration partners.
• Lead cross-functional build and debug cadences; ensure issues are clearly owned, aggressively driven, and formally closed with root cause and prevention.
• Drive factory and deployment ramp readiness, including throughput, site readiness, yield targets, quality controls, and reliability gates.
• Own end-to-end risk management, including identification, mitigation planning, escalation, and executive-level communication.
• Surface systemic bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or failure modes; propose and implement durable solutions across process, tooling, and organizational interfaces.
• Build, formalize, and scale repeatable operating mechanisms that enable predictable, high-velocity hardware development.

Systems, Process, and Partner Leadership

• Define requirements for operational systems, such as product lifecycle management (PLM) enablement, and partner with internal teams to implement, test, and operationalize them.
• Establish clear scopes, roles, and responsibilities across internal teams and external partners to ensure clean execution boundaries.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with contract manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and integrators, driving accountability, performance, and transparency.
• Support onsite factory builds and field deployments as needed, including domestic and international travel.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in Operations, Engineering, Program Management, or an equivalent area within hardware development, manufacturing, or supply chain domains such as compute, networking, datacenter, or similarly complex systems.
• Proven track record leading complex hardware NPI programs end-to-end, from early bring-up through production ramp.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing and supply chain fundamentals, including bill of materials (BOM) management, engineering change order/manufacturing change order (ECO/MCO) processes, build readiness, factory testing, quality controls, and material planning.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, influence senior stakeholders, and drive decisions in ambiguous, time-compressed environments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complex issues for executive and external audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating in hyperscale datacenter or large-scale infrastructure environments.
• Familiarity with supplier engagement models, build cost drivers, and NPI scaling tradeoffs.
• Technical background in server, rack, and/or network hardware.
• Experience designing or improving operational processes, dashboards, governance forums, or execution metrics.
• Experience supporting PLM processes and familiarity with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law. OpenAI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Benefits

• Base pay of $177,000–$285,000 per year.
• Equity, performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and comprehensive benefits.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for healthcare, dependent care, and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and sick or safe time as required by applicable law.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily meals in offices and meal delivery credits as eligible.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.
• Additional taxable fringe benefits may be provided, including charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.

The base pay offered may vary depending on market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Total compensation may also vary based on individual performance, team or company results, and market conditions.