Senior Strategic Technology Negotiations Lead

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Strategic Technology Negotiations Lead to personally drive some of the company’s most complex technology negotiations. This senior IC role emphasizes strategy, judgment, and direct ownership rather than people management.

Initial focus includes data platforms, lakehouse tech, observability, and enterprise SaaS with flexibility across strategic tech areas. You will lead negotiations from strategy through execution, aligning executives and driving agreements to closure, with a

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience leading complex commercial negotiations in technology, procurement, partnerships, or related fields.
• Expert negotiator who develops strategy, leads the room, and drives difficult deals to resolution.
• Ability to engage deeply with technical teams and influence senior executives through structured thinking and judgment.
• Experience shaping enterprise software or technology agreements with sophisticated pricing, licensing, or partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, high-value technology negotiations from strategy to signed agreement.
• Develop negotiation plans defining objectives, leverage, alternatives, sequencing, roles and escalation paths.
• Synthesize technical requirements, supplier economics, market dynamics, and business priorities.
• Partner with Engineering, Research, IT, Systems, Finance, Legal, and Corporate Development to set a unified strategy.
• Shape deal structures considering cost, revenue, equity, partnerships, risk and long-term implications.
• Advise executives with clear narratives on deal strategy, financial impact, risks, and recommendations.
• Lead supplier engagement at working-team and executive levels, handling escalations under pressure.
• Create commercial structures that deliver savings, improve scalability, and allocate risk.

Skills

Strategic negotiation

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Deal strategy

Risk assessment

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a Strategic Technology Negotiations Lead to personally drive some of the company’s most complex technology negotiations. This senior IC role emphasizes strategy, judgment, and direct ownership rather than people management.

Initial focus includes data platforms, lakehouse tech, observability, and enterprise SaaS with flexibility across strategic tech areas. You will lead negotiations from strategy through execution, aligning executives and driving agreements to closure, with a