Business Development Lead, Compute Strategy

OpenAI • San Francisco, CA

1d • $226,000 - $285,000

About The Position

OpenAI’s Compute Strategy team is responsible for securing and scaling the core resources that power our research and products. We partner across engineering, finance, legal, and operations to identify, negotiate, and execute strategic partnerships that expand OpenAI’s capacity for compute, power, and data center infrastructure. Our mandate spans energy procurement, real estate development, colocation, cloud service providers, silicon and strategic supply chain, and infrastructure financing—ensuring OpenAI can grow with speed, resilience, and cost-efficiency.

We are hiring several Technical Business Development Lead, Compute Strategy positions focused on compute infrastructure. Each hire will bring deep expertise in one or more focus areas while collaborating across the broader infrastructure stack. In this role, you will source opportunities, structure partnerships, and negotiate high-value agreements across OpenAI’s infrastructure ecosystem. You will work directly with external partners and suppliers while collaborating internally with engineering, legal, finance, and operations to ensure we have the resources needed to support state-of-the-art AI systems. This role requires technical fluency, commercial judgment, and disciplined execution. Your work will directly shape how quickly, reliably, and efficiently OpenAI can bring new compute capacity online.

Each hire will focus on building partnerships and executing deals in one or more of the following areas:
Energy and Power: securing scalable and sustainable energy supply.
Land and Real Estate: identifying and securing strategic sites.
Colocation: evaluating and contracting for third-party data center capacity.
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs): structuring partnerships with hyperscalers and specialized AI cloud providers.
Silicon: building semiconductor partnerships to secure advanced silicon and resilient long-term supply.
Fiber & Equipment: securing fiber & critical data center equipment from strategic suppliers.
Capital Markets: partnering with Finance, Treasury, and capital providers to develop financing solutions for large-scale compute infrastructure investments.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, private equity, corporate development, project development, or infrastructure finance, with relevant experience in at least one focus area above.
• A demonstrated track record of closing complex, high-value commercial agreements.
• Deep expertise in at least one of the focus areas above, with the ability to translate technical requirements and constraints into commercial structures and contract terms.
• Exceptional negotiation and relationship management skills with the ability to engage C-level stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills to assess market opportunities, model deal structures, and evaluate long-term ROI.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity in a fast-moving environment.

Nice To Haves

• A JD, MBA, or equivalent experience is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Own partnership opportunities end-to-end—from concept formation and sourcing through evaluation, diligence, internal approval, negotiation, close, and post-close execution—across one or more of the focus areas above.
• Lead negotiations for complex commercial agreements, balancing cost, speed, and long-term scalability.
• Build and manage relationships with senior leaders across utilities, real estate developers, colocation and cloud providers, semiconductor and equipment suppliers, financial institutions, and other capital providers.
• Develop market intelligence to inform OpenAI’s infrastructure roadmap and partnership strategy.
• Coordinate across engineering, legal, finance, Treasury, and operations to structure agreements that align with technical and business objectives.
• Represent OpenAI in external forums, conferences, and industry working groups to strengthen our ecosystem presence.
• Operationalize and establish governance for signed agreements; track delivery, risks, economics, and business impact against commercial and technical objectives.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed