Program Director, Catalytic Deployment

The OpenAI Foundation; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 270,000 - 330,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Travel opportunities

Job summary

The OpenAI Foundation seeks a Program Director for the Catalytic Deployments team in San Francisco, CA. This leadership role combines philanthropic investment, strategy, and operations to develop large, transformative AI-enabled initiatives with global impact.

You will build partnerships, design grant programs, and guide the portfolio with rigorous diligence, aiming to accelerate AI’s positive social outcomes while maintaining strong governance and autonomy.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of leadership experience in nonprofits, philanthropy, or government.
• Credible experience building and scaling large social-sector initiatives.
• Experience in sourcing, assessing, and structuring grants.
• Subject matter expertise in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility.
• Ability to reason clearly about AI capabilities, implementation constraints, organizational readiness and the risks of deploying AI systems in civil society contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations.
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve.
• 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.
• High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability.
• Deep motivation to accelerate AI’s impact in civil society and contribute to the Foundation’s mission.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to strategy and prioritization of Catalytic Deployments.
• Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and funding opportunities.
• Design and manage a growing portfolio of grants with strong judgment.
• As the organization grows, manage other Catalytic Deployments team members.
• Engage deeply with researchers, nonprofits, academic centers, funders, and potential grantees.
• Identify gaps in the ecosystem and develop ideas for new efforts, partnerships, or field-building initiatives.
• Develop and launch new initiatives from zero-to-one, shaping concepts and convening stakeholders.
• Represent the Foundation in external conversations to build credibility and source opportunities.
• Write clear internal recommendations and strategy memos to support decision-making.
• Use frontier AI to support work across activities described above.

Skills

Leadership experience

Grant sourcing & assessment

Strategic judgment

Communication skills

AI capability reasoning

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.

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 Civil Society And Philanthropy

Civil Society and Philanthropy is a new OpenAI Foundation team dedicated to putting advanced AI to work on challenges facing people and communities globally. We will partner with nonprofit and civil society organizations and governments around the world, putting in place the resources needed to ensure AI can meaningfully support their work. We combine philanthropic investment, technical expertise, and convening power to work alongside trusted partners that deliver essential services across geographies and issue areas. Together, we identify opportunities where AI can strengthen their work, expand their reach, and tangibly benefit their communities.

We're Starting With Three Areas

• Put AI to work in essential services where it can meaningfully improve access and outcomes.
• Give civil society organizations the tools, expertise, and support to adopt AI responsibly.
• Build shared infrastructure so that successful tools and lessons can benefit the entire social sector.

We believe the most meaningful applications of AI will be shaped not by technology companies alone, but by the teachers, clinicians, legal advocates, public servants, researchers, governments, and community organizations applying these tools to solve real‑world problems.

About The Role

The Program Director is a leadership role on the Catalytic Deployments team that combines philanthropic investment, strategy, institution‑building, and operations. Catalytic Deployments is a small, flat, and fast‑moving team designed to make large and transformative investments across a wide range of areas in civil society. Program Directors own the strategy and execution of major areas of the Catalytic Deployments portfolio, working closely with the Head of Catalytic Deployments to set overall team priorities. As part of this work, Program Directors will help lead the development of large philanthropic investments globally, from grants to ambitious multi‑year initiatives, and potentially new institutions. Program Directors will be part of a small, collaborative team and expected to work closely with the rest of the organization. Ideal program directors have deep experience in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility. This role requires strong judgment, high ownership, and the ability to operate with meaningful autonomy. This role has an unusually high bar for judgment, strategic thinking, and execution velocity. In the first year, Program Directors will develop a clear investment thesis in one or more priority domains; build a high‑quality pipeline of opportunities; launch several significant partnerships or investments; and help establish the operating model and team for Catalytic Deployments. This role reports to the Head of Catalytic Deployments, Civil Society and Philanthropy. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We currently use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week. Some travel around the U.S. and to other countries will be required.

In This Role, You Will

• Contribute to the strategy, prioritization, and the Foundation’s approach to Catalytic Deployments; over time, own specific areas within Catalytic Deployments
• Source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities. Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including execution capability and potential for scaling the benefit of AI‑enabled approaches
• Help design and manage a growing portfolio of grants, ensuring strong judgment, clear prioritization, and high‑quality follow‑through
• As the organization grows, manage other members of the Catalytic Deployments team
• Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, academic centers, public‑interest organizations, data platforms, funders, and other potential grantee organizations
• Identify gaps in the current ecosystem and develop ideas for how the Foundation can support new efforts, partnerships, or field‑building initiatives
• Develop and launch new initiatives from zero‑to‑one, including helping shape concepts, convene stakeholders, and stand up new efforts where needed
• Represent the Foundation in external conversations, helping to build credibility, source opportunities, and strengthen the broader field
• Write clear internal recommendations and strategy memos to support decision‑making
• Use frontier AI to support your work across the activities described above

You Might Thrive In This Role If You

• 10+ years of leadership experience in nonprofits, philanthropy, or government
• Credible experience building and scaling large social‑sector initiatives
• Experience in sourcing, assessing, and structuring grants
• Subject matter expertise in at least one social sector domain, such as public health, education, poverty alleviation, and economic mobility
• Ability to reason clearly about AI capabilities, implementation constraints, organizational readiness and the risks of deploying AI systems in civil society contexts. (Strongly preferred: Direct experience deploying or scaling AI‑enabled approaches in at least one social‑sector domain. Demonstrated out‑of‑the‑box and original thinking about AI‑for‑good.)
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate technical or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations
• Comfort operating in a fast‑moving environment where priorities may evolve over time
• 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
• High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability
• Deep motivation to accelerate AI’s impact in civil society and contribute to the Foundation’s mission

Compensation

The annual base salary range for this role is $270,000 to $330,000 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.