Head of Finance - Data Centers

Socket.dev; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Head of Finance for Data Centers to lead the finance function for our self-built data center program. You will partner with infrastructure, real estate, energy, construction, procurement, and finance teams to turn site opportunities into funded projects.

This role spans evaluating opportunities, building investment cases, forecasting capital needs, managing construction budgets, and helping determine how projects should be financed.

Qualifications

• Prior experience as the finance leader for large-scale data center builds or major electric generation projects.
• Prior experience in investment banking or private equity.
• 10+ years of experience across strategic finance, infrastructure finance, project development, or related fields.
• Strong command of project finance, capital project economics, capex and cash flow forecasting, budget management, and the financing structures used to develop large infrastructure assets.
• Excellent financial modeling skills and the judgment to test assumptions, quantify uncertainty, and recommend a path forward.
• Working knowledge of construction cost drivers and risks, including utility and power timelines, procurement, contracts, and change orders.
• The ability to work closely with technical and construction teams while communicating clearly with senior finance and business leaders.
• Strong track record of hiring, leading and developing high performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial evaluation of proposed data center and related power infrastructure projects, including site economics, development costs, capacity phasing, lifecycle costs, and key risks.
• Build and own project-level models and capital expenditure forecasts that connect construction schedules, power delivery, equipment procurement, contingencies, and funding needs.
• Establish capital budgets and financial controls for active builds. Track commitments, actual spending, change orders, and forecasts to completion; identify cost or schedule risks early.
• Partner with development, engineering, energy, construction, and procurement leaders on decisions that affect cost, timing, and long-term performance.
• Work with Treasury, Corporate Finance, Tax, and Legal to evaluate financing options, including project or construction debt, leases, joint ventures, and other partnership structures where appropriate.
• Prepare investment recommendations and capital approval materials for senior leadership, translating complex project details into clear choices and tradeoffs.
• Build a consistent portfolio view of project costs, cash requirements, milestones, and financial performance. Partner with Accounting and operations teams through project completion and handoff.

Skills

Project finance

Financial modeling

Capital budgeting

Cash flow forecasting

Budget management

Financing structures

Leadership

Team management

Job description

About the Role

As Head of Finance - Data Centers, you will be the finance leader for OpenAI’s self-built data center efforts. You will partner with teams across infrastructure, real estate, energy, construction, procurement, and finance to turn proposed sites into sound investment decisions and funded projects.

This role spans the full development lifecycle: evaluating opportunities, building investment cases, forecasting capital needs, managing construction budgets, and helping determine how projects should be financed. You will give leadership a clear view of project economics, funding requirements, and risks as we build data center capacity at scale.

In this role, you will:

• Lead financial evaluation of proposed data center and related power infrastructure projects, including site economics, development costs, capacity phasing, lifecycle costs, and key risks.




• Build and own project-level models and capital expenditure forecasts that connect construction schedules, power delivery, equipment procurement, contingencies, and funding needs.




• Establish capital budgets and financial controls for active builds. Track commitments, actual spending, change orders, and forecasts to completion; identify cost or schedule risks early.




• Partner with development, engineering, energy, construction, and procurement leaders on decisions that affect cost, timing, and long-term performance.




• Work with Treasury, Corporate Finance, Tax, and Legal to evaluate financing options, including project or construction debt, leases, joint ventures, and other partnership structures where appropriate.




• Prepare investment recommendations and capital approval materials for senior leadership, translating complex project details into clear choices and tradeoffs.




• Build a consistent portfolio view of project costs, cash requirements, milestones, and financial performance. Partner with Accounting and operations teams through project completion and handoff.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• Prior experience as the finance leader for large-scale data center builds or major electric generation projects. You have directly owned investment analysis, capital budgets, and financial decisions through development and construction.




• Prior experience in investment banking or private equity. This is a strong preferred part of the background for this role.




• 10+ years of experience across strategic finance, infrastructure finance, project development, or related fields.




• Strong command of project finance, capital project economics, capex and cash flow forecasting, budget management, and the financing structures used to develop large infrastructure assets.




• Excellent financial modeling skills and the judgment to test assumptions, quantify uncertainty, and recommend a path forward.




• Working knowledge of construction cost drivers and risks, including utility and power timelines, procurement, contracts, and change orders.




• The ability to work closely with technical and construction teams while communicating clearly with senior finance and business leaders.




• Strong track record of hiring, leading and developing high performing teams.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do 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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affiant Action Statement.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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