Chief of Staff, Life Sciences and Curing Diseases

OpenAI Foundation•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

The OpenAI Foundation is building its Life Sciences and Curing Diseases program to accelerate progress on curing diseases and improving human health. Its initial focus areas include AI for Alzheimer’s, Public Data for Health, and accelerating progress on high-mortality and high-burden diseases. The Chief of Staff partners directly with the Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases in a high-leverage role at the center of this program. The role translates strategy into execution, helps the program operate effectively as it scales, and serves as a force multiplier across people, projects, and priorities. It operates as an extension of the program lead, owning critical workstreams, bringing clarity to ambiguous situations, and helping build the systems and team needed to deploy significant capital toward scientific and health impact. This is not a traditional program management role. The Chief of Staff will drive execution across the portfolio, establish the program’s operating system, lead cross-functional initiatives, and support hiring and team development. The role involves working with internal teams and external partners and may represent the program lead in internal and external settings.

Requirements

At least 5 years of relevant experience; relevant backgrounds may include program management, strategy and operations, Chief of Staff work, life sciences, biotechnology, global health, translational medicine, public health, philanthropy, or related fields.
Ability to manage complex cross-functional workstreams and drive execution in ambiguous environments.
Strong organizational and operational judgment, including the ability to build processes that improve clarity, speed, and effectiveness.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively.
Experience working with senior leaders and supporting high-stakes decision-making.
Ability to engage credibly with scientific, technical, operational, and external stakeholders.
High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability.
Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution.
Deep motivation to accelerate progress in life sciences and contribute to the Foundation’s mission.

Nice To Haves

8–12 or more years of relevant experience is preferred.
Experience in program management, strategy and operations, strategy consulting, program leadership, or early-stage startups.
Experience working with technical, scientific, or other highly specialized teams.
Ability to operate in fast-moving, high-stakes environments with significant ownership and limited guidance.
Ability to context-switch across scientific, operational, and strategic questions while maintaining depth where needed.
Comfort driving both strategy and execution, from high-level work to detailed tasks.
Strong judgment and ability to handle sensitive information and high-impact decisions.
Highly agentic approach, including identifying and addressing needs without waiting for direction.
Comfort working in an organization whose roles and structures are evolving quickly.

Responsibilities

Translate high-level strategy into concrete priorities, roadmaps, and operating plans across the Life Sciences and Curing Diseases portfolio.
Track progress across focus areas, identify bottlenecks, and intervene to unblock critical initiatives.
Partner with the Head of Life Sciences and Curing Diseases on decision-making, prioritization, and external engagements.
Prepare materials, synthesize inputs, and ensure high-quality outputs across key initiatives.
Represent the program lead in internal and external settings when needed.
Establish processes for planning, resource allocation, and execution across a growing portfolio.
Create visibility across workstreams so leadership can understand progress and priorities.
Implement lightweight, effective systems that can scale with the program.
Lead special projects across focus areas, including launching initiatives, standing up grantmaking efforts, and building partnerships.
Coordinate with finance, legal, communications, operations, and external partners to advance complex efforts.
Help design and operationalize new focus areas before dedicated leads are in place.
Identify talent gaps and drive recruiting for key roles across the life sciences portfolio.
Act as a cultural anchor for a high-performance, mission-driven team.
Onboard new team members and help them succeed quickly.