Head of AI for Alzheimer’s

OpenAI Foundation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 430,000 - 580,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI Foundation is building out its Life Sciences and Curing Diseases program to accelerate progress against major diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer's, using AI-driven research and funding strategies. As Program Director, you will define strategy, identify high-potential opportunities, and deploy resources into grants and initiatives that can accelerate progress.

This founding role requires flexibility, external engagement, and the ability to translate a broad mission into a focused,

Qualifications

• 10-15+ years of relevant experience preferred.
• San Francisco Bay Area strongly preferred.
• Experience in Alzheimer’s research, neuroscience, neurology, biotechnology, translational medicine, venture or grant investing in life sciences, or related fields.
• Strong interest in the role AI can play in accelerating Alzheimer’s research, including data analysis, biomarker discovery, disease modeling, clinical development, or therapeutic discovery.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate scientific, technical, or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations.
• Experience engaging credibly with external experts, institutions, and senior stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively.
• Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution.
• Ability to work effectively in a highly ambiguous, evolving environment.
• High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability.
• Deep motivation to help accelerate progress in life sciences and contribute to the Foundation’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Develop clear theses for how the Foundation can accelerate progress towards the goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s, deploying hundreds of millions of dollars towards that goal over time
• Work closely with the Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases to shape strategy, prioritize opportunities, and refine the Foundation’s approach over time
• Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities. Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including assessing scientific value and potential for real-world impact
• Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, public health organizations, startups, academic centers, funders, and other potential grantee organizations
• Build and maintain strong relationships with leaders across Alzheimer’s research and AI for science
• Prepare clear internal briefs, recommendations, and memos to support decision-making

Skills

Strategic thinking

Execution

External engagement

Communication

Decision making

Portfolio management

Job description

About OpenAI Foundation

AI is already changing how people work, learn, and access care. It has the potential to unlock extraordinary benefits—faster medical breakthroughs, accelerated scientific discovery, more personalized services in healthcare and education, new tools for creativity and invention, higher productivity and economic growth, improved public services like transportation systems, and so much more.

But building powerful systems to benefit humanity is only a part of the work of our mission. Advanced AI models will also present new challenges that are already surfacing, and we need to be prepared to identify these challenges and develop solutions to address them.

These are the two dimensions of what we’re building the Foundation to do. We aim to enable the use of AI to find solutions to humanity’s hardest problems, transform what people are capable of, and deliver real benefits in people’s lives—while working hard with partners to be ready for new challenges, and to help make society resilient, as AI advances.

This work is just beginning. Over the next year, as we quickly ramp up, the Foundation expects to invest at least $1 billion across life sciences and curing diseases, jobs and economic impact, AI resilience, and community programs. This includes early investments toward our previously announced $25 billion commitment to curing diseases and AI resilience.

About the role

The OpenAI Foundation is building out its Life Sciences and Curing Diseases program to help accelerate progress against the biggest diseases facing humanity. One of the program’s initial focus areas is AI for Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is one of the hardest and most heartbreaking diseases families face — and one of the toughest problems in medicine. We believe AI has enormous potential to speed scientific and medical progress to save and improve lives, and that AI’s ability to reason across complex data could help researchers uncover new insights in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The Foundation is especially interested in efforts that can help map disease pathways, detect biomarkers for clinical care and clinical trials, and accelerate the personalization of treatments — including, where possible, repurposing existing FDA-approved molecules.

We are looking for a Program Director, AI for Alzheimer’s to help define and build this work from the ground up. This is a founding role within the Foundation’s life sciences program. You will work closely with the Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases to shape strategy, identify high-potential opportunities, and help deploy significant resources over time into organizations and initiatives that can materially accelerate progress.

This role requires someone who is highly flexible, thoughtful, and action-oriented — comfortable operating in an ambiguous environment, engaging deeply with external experts and organizations, and translating a broad mission into a focused portfolio of grants and initiatives.

In this role, you will

• Develop clear theses for how the Foundation can accelerate progress towards the goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s, deploying hundreds of millions of dollars towards that goal over time

• Work closely with the Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases to shape strategy, prioritize opportunities, and refine the Foundation’s approach over time

• Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities. Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including assessing scientific value and potential for real-world impact

• Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, public health organizations, startups, academic centers, funders, and other potential grantee organizations

• Build and maintain strong relationships with leaders across Alzheimer’s research and AI for science

• Prepare clear internal briefs, recommendations, and memos to support decision-making

You might thrive in this role if you

• Are deeply motivated by the goal of preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease and improving life for patients and caregivers around the world

• Are able to think creatively about levers a philanthropy could pull to achieve that goal, complementary to existing efforts against Alzheimer’s. I.d.e., you take a General Manager approach to the problem: thinking backwards from the desired outcome, and doing whatever it takes to get there

• Are excited to help build a new focus area from the ground up

• Are highly flexible and comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve over time

• Can take a broad, ambiguous problem and turn it into a clear strategy, strong relationships, and concrete action

• Have strong judgment about people, organizations, and scientific opportunities

• Are energized by meeting with external partners, asking sharp questions, and forming an independent view

• Can balance strategic thinking with practical execution and detail-oriented follow-through

• Are comfortable making recommendations in areas where there is uncertainty and incomplete information

• Have the maturity and adaptability to work closely with leadership while also operating with substantial autonomy

• Care deeply about the Foundation’s mission and the opportunity to accelerate progress against diseases with major human and global impact

Requirements

• 10-15+ years of relevant experience preferred

• San Francisco Bay Area strongly preferred

• Relevant experience in areas such as Alzheimer’s research, neuroscience, neurology, biotechnology, translational medicine, venture or grant investing in life sciences, or related fields

• Strong interest in the role AI can play in accelerating Alzheimer’s research, including in areas such as data analysis, biomarker discovery, disease modeling, clinical development, or therapeutic discovery

• Demonstrated ability to evaluate scientific, technical, or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations

• Experience engaging credibly with external experts, institutions, and senior stakeholders

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively

• Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution

• Ability to work effectively in a highly ambiguous, evolving environment

• High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability

• Deep motivation to help accelerate progress in life sciences and contribute to the Foundation’s mission

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this role is $430,000 to $580,000 USD.

This range reflects our good-faith estimate of the base salary we reasonably expect to pay for this position upon hire. Actual base salary will be determined based on job-related factors, including the candidate’s relevant experience, skills, expertise, the scope of the role, and work location, as applicable.

This salary range does not include benefits or any other compensation for which the role may be eligible.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.