Program Manager, National Security Policy Operations (AI)

Location: Hybrid in San Francisco or Washington, DC; travel as necessary. Relocation assistance is available to eligible new employees.

Salary: $171K–$190K base pay annually, plus equity and additional eligible compensation.

Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company developing general-purpose artificial intelligence with a focus on safety and broad human benefit.

What you will do

• Run portfolio planning and team operations, including intake, workplans, milestones, owners, dependencies, risks, capacity constraints, sequencing, and progress reporting.
• Build and maintain operating systems for planning, meeting cadences, knowledge management, decision logs, program metrics, and centralized commitment tracking.
• Coordinate policy deliverables and external engagements, including briefing packages, talking points, presentations, readouts, visits, convenings, review cycles, and action-item follow-up.
• Manage contractors and consultants, including onboarding, scopes of work, deliverables, renewals, invoices, offboarding, and performance tracking in coordination with Legal, Finance, and Procurement.
• Coordinate dependencies across Global Affairs, Research, Safety, Security, Product Policy, Legal, Communications, and OpenAI for Government.
• Improve the operating model through feedback loops, retrospectives, AI, automation, and lightweight tooling.

Requirements

• 5+ years of relevant experience in program management, project management, policy operations, strategic operations, chief of staff, government program delivery, or related roles.
• Experience coordinating complex work across multiple stakeholders and building practical delivery systems.
• A track record of independently driving complex cross-functional programs from scoping through delivery while managing stakeholders, dependencies, and risks.
• Strong analytical, writing, and communication skills, including synthesizing quantitative and qualitative inputs into decision materials, action plans, and executive-ready updates.
• Ability to understand strategic context while remaining hands-on in detailed execution, influence without formal authority, and exercise sound judgment and discretion in sensitive, fast-moving environments.
• Ability to learn technical and policy context, synthesize expert inputs, and communicate clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to collaborate across policy, technical, legal, operational, and business teams and keep stakeholders aligned through influence.
• Interest in AI’s national security and societal impact, with high standards, curiosity, low ego, and a strong service orientation.

Nice to have

• Experience supporting policy, government, national security, or technical teams.
• Familiarity with frontier risk, cybersecurity, biosecurity, critical infrastructure, defense and intelligence applications, or technical AI governance.
• Formal project or program management certification.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work in San Francisco or Washington, DC, with travel as necessary.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts, and flexible spending accounts.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, paid parental and caregiver leave, paid time off, paid holidays, and sick or safe time.
• Mental health and wellness support, employer-paid life and disability coverage, and an annual learning and development stipend.
• Office meals, eligible meal delivery credits, relocation support, charitable donation matching, and wellness stipends.

Hiring process

• Additional benefits details are provided during the hiring process.
• Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law.