Technical Deployment Lead, Life Sciences

Details

About the Team

OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team turns research breakthroughs into production-grade systems. The team embeds with customers to solve high-leverage problems, moving quickly from prototype to production and surfacing reusable patterns that shape the platform. FDE operates at the intersection of deployment and development and works closely with OpenAI Research, Product, and Partnerships.

About the Role

This is a founding role focused on the Life Sciences vertical. As a Technical Deployment Lead (TDL) you will define how OpenAI delivers complex systems to customers — owning how they are built, shipped, and adopted. You will translate business outcomes into technical plans, run day-to-day execution across FDEs, Researchers, and Customer Engineers, and partner with customer teams to ensure delivery supports their goals.

You will partner with pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organizations, and other data and services providers to deploy next-generation AI capabilities across drug discovery, development, and operations. You will own delivery end-to-end: embedding with Life Sciences customers to map workflows and success criteria, ensuring components ship on time, and leading readiness and change management for adoption. You will track progress, manage dependencies, make sequencing decisions, and drive 0→1 prototypes through MVP and scale. You will surface field insights to Product and Research to guide roadmap and priorities.

Success is measured by deployments that deliver measurable value against customer goals, drive adoption, and become critical to customer workflows. Additional measures include delivery reliability (milestones hit, low reopen/churn), operating leverage (patterns reused across deployments), judgment under pressure, and product impact (field signals that shift roadmaps/architectures).

This role is based in San Francisco and uses a hybrid work model of three days in the office per week. Relocation assistance is offered. Travel up to 50% is required.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical delivery plan for multiple interdependent workstreams: translate business objectives into a roadmap with milestones, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
• Run day-to-day engineering execution: track and drive delivery across OpenAI FDE and customer teams, keep progress unblocked and sequenced, and make real-time trade-offs on scope and priority.
• Embed with customer teams to land production deployments and drive adoption: map workflows, shape tools/integrations, translate requirements into a delivery plan, and lead onboarding and change management.
• Partner with Product and Research so platform components and research workstreams land in time to support deployment goals.
• Codify solution patterns and evaluations: extract reusable patterns and package field signals to improve product and models.
• Own value cases and ROI: set impact hypotheses, baselines, and KPIs; run pre-/post-deployment measurement and report to executive sponsors.
• Shape how OpenAI engages Life Sciences customers and influence product/research priorities based on field insights.

Requirements

• 7+ years of customer-facing technical delivery leadership.
• Expertise in Life Sciences (work with pharma, CROs, or similar organizations).
• Track record leading large, complex, high-stakes customer engagements where outcomes depended on tight coordination and fast decision making, ideally involving AI.
• Ability to operate in high ambiguity, simplify complex/dynamic work, and move from system-level understanding to execution detail.
• Strong technical fluency and sequencing instincts; ability to discuss technical details, pressure-test architectures, and make trade-offs.
• Experience shipping AI/LLM systems, understanding solution patterns, integration basics, and production pitfalls.
• Strong communication and executive presence; able to translate technical trade-offs for business leaders.
• Willingness to be onsite with customers frequently to accelerate delivery (often 25–50%, sometimes higher).

Benefits

• Competitive base pay (range listed separately) plus generous equity and potential performance-related bonuses.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts (Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter benefits).
• 401(k) with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave; flexible PTO and additional paid time off policies.
• 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.

Location & Work Model

• Based in San Francisco, United States.
• Hybrid: three days in office per week.
• Travel up to 50% required.
• Relocation assistance available.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company focused on ensuring general-purpose AI benefits all of humanity. The company emphasizes safety, diverse perspectives, and inclusive hiring practices. Background checks will be administered in accordance with applicable law. Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities.