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Deal Lead, Special Situations

OpenAI· Partnerships
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Hybrid (San Francisco)$333k - $401k + equityFull-timePosted 3w ago

About the role

Deal Lead to develop and execute OpenAI’s most consequential commercial opportunities, shaping offerings, structuring partnerships, and driving work from thesis to launch and growth.

Responsibilities

  • Identify and develop high-value opportunities across industries, markets, and emerging capabilities, translating customer needs into concrete AI use cases and commercial opportunities.
  • Shape new offerings and business models: define who we serve, what we offer, how we price it, and how we bring it to market.
  • Originate and grow customer and partner relationships, building executive alignment around the opportunity, desired outcomes, and path forward.
  • Work with FDEs, researchers, Product, and GTM teams to prioritize use cases and define scope, success criteria, resourcing, and a viable delivery approach.
  • Structure and negotiate complex partnerships, including revenue sharing, royalties, outcome-based pricing, and other non-standard commercial arrangements.
  • Drive executive-level decisions on strategy, economics, resourcing, and risk, keeping internal teams and external partners aligned as the work evolves.
  • Drive commercial outcomes beyond signature, including launch, adoption, revenue, viable economics, and expansion.
  • Build on early successes to develop repeatable offerings and partnerships, continuing to lead strategic relationships or establishing clear ownership as they scale.

Qualifications

  • Significant experience in business development, partnerships, corporate development, private equity, or founding roles where you personally led complex commercial opportunities from concept through execution.
  • Originated, structured, and closed significant deals—and stayed accountable for what happened after signing.
  • Can turn an ambiguous opportunity into a clear commercial thesis, prioritized use cases, viable economics, and an executable plan.
  • Bring strong commercial and financial judgment, including experience designing pricing, evaluating business models, and negotiating terms that align incentives.
  • Learn unfamiliar industries quickly and bring relevant domain expertise, with an understanding of how sophisticated customers buy, partner, and deploy technology.
  • Work effectively with FDEs, researchers, engineers, and product teams to connect technical capabilities with customer value and realistic delivery commitments.
  • Build executive alignment across organizations, communicating opportunities, risks, and tradeoffs clearly and driving decisions when priorities differ.
  • Are equally comfortable shaping strategy and doing the hands-on work: customer discovery, financial modeling, proposals, negotiations, and resolving execution blockers.
  • Create structure and accountability across cross-functional teams without relying on formal authority.
  • Exercise sound judgment under uncertainty, adapting as evidence changes and recognizing when to invest more, change course, or walk away.

Skills

Required:Business development / partnershipsDeal structuring and negotiationsFinancial modeling and pricingCross-functional collaboration

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
  • Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
  • 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
  • Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
  • Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
  • 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time
  • Mental health and wellness support
  • Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
  • Annual learning and development stipend
  • Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
  • Relocation support for eligible employees
  • Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends applicable
Last updated Oct 1, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About OpenAI

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