Technical Deployment Lead, Semiconductors

Details

OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team turns research breakthroughs into production-grade systems. The team works closely with customers to solve complex, high-leverage problems, move from prototypes to production, and develop reusable patterns in partnership with Research, Product, and Partnerships.

As a Technical Deployment Lead, you will define how OpenAI delivers complex systems to semiconductor customers. You will own how solutions are scoped, built, shipped, and adopted across engineering workflows such as RTL design, verification, and physical implementation. You will translate business outcomes into technical plans, lead execution across Forward Deployed Engineers, Researchers, and Customer Engineers, and partner with customer teams to support their goals.

The role focuses on deploying next-generation AI capabilities in the semiconductor vertical. Responsibilities include mapping customer workflows and success criteria, coordinating delivery, managing dependencies and sequencing, driving prototypes through MVP and scale, leading readiness and change management, and sharing field insights with Product and Research to guide roadmaps and priorities. Success is measured by customer impact, adoption, delivery reliability, reusable deployment patterns, judgment under pressure, and product impact.

This is a high-trust, high-autonomy role requiring deep technical project management expertise, ownership of outcomes, and the ability to work closely with customer teams on complex engineering problems. The role is based in San Francisco and follows a hybrid model with three days per week in the office. Travel of 25–50% is required, and relocation assistance is offered.

Responsibilities

• Own technical delivery plans for multiple interdependent workstreams, translating customer objectives into roadmaps with milestones, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
• Run day-to-day engineering execution across OpenAI Forward Deployed Engineering and customer teams.
• Keep progress unblocked and appropriately sequenced, making real-time scope and priority trade-offs to protect the critical path.
• Embed with semiconductor customer teams to deliver production deployments and drive adoption.
• Map workflows, shape tools and integrations, and translate requirements into delivery plans.
• Shape production deployments integrating with customer infrastructure, data systems, engineering toolchains, and export-controlled environments.
• Partner with Product and Research to ensure platform components and research workstreams support deployment goals.
• Codify solution patterns and evaluations, extracting reusable patterns and packaging field signals to improve products and models.
• Own value cases and return on investment by setting impact hypotheses, baselines, and key performance indicators; conduct pre- and post-deployment measurement and report to executive sponsors.
• Help define how OpenAI engages semiconductor customers.

Requirements

• 7+ years of customer-facing technical delivery leadership experience.
• Deep expertise in semiconductor workflows, including RTL design, verification, EDA tooling, and physical implementation.
• A track record of leading large, complex, high-stakes customer engagements requiring close coordination and rapid decision-making, ideally involving AI.
• Ability to operate effectively in highly ambiguous environments and simplify complex, dynamic work.
• Ability to move between system-level understanding and execution-level detail, including analyzing customer workflows and data, mapping constraints, sketching architectures, and moving ambiguous problems to shipped systems.
• Strategic thinking and pattern-recognition skills, with the ability to identify trends across deployments and connect customer needs to scalable, reusable solutions.
• Strong technical fluency and sequencing judgment, including confidence discussing technical details, pressure-testing architectures, and making trade-offs.
• Experience shipping AI or LLM systems, with an understanding of solution patterns, integration fundamentals, and production pitfalls.
• Strong communication and executive presence, including the ability to explain complex technical trade-offs to business leaders and translate strategy into technical execution.
• Willingness to work onsite with customers, often 25–50% of the time and sometimes more.

Benefits

• Base salary of $198,000–$294,000 per year, plus equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, and commuter benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and paid sick or safe time.
• 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.
• Additional benefits may include charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.