Creative Director, Brand Identity

OpenAI•San Francisco, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

OpenAI didn’t begin as a traditional company. It began as an idea: that artificial intelligence could be developed in a way that benefits everyone. As a creative team, our role is to help make sure the work behind that idea is understood, as it leaves the lab and meets the world. This company works at the frontier of intelligence. Like any frontier, it’s unfinished, constantly shifting, and still being explored. Our job is to stay close to that uncertainty and help shape how this story gets told, in a way that feels grounded and human. We do this through campaigns, launches, films, brand systems, and work that doesn’t fit neatly into any of those categories yet. This team is for people who want to help shape something from the beginning. We’re looking for a Brand Identity Lead to define and evolve the visual language of OpenAI. This role is responsible for shaping the identity systems that help the world understand our work. As a senior member of the design team, you will lead the development of OpenAI’s core visual language across products, campaigns, events, and out-of-home experiences. You’ll partner closely with product, marketing, motion, and leadership teams to ensure our brand remains clear, consistent, and expressive as OpenAI continues to grow. To us, creativity is a team sport. Ideas get better when you talk them through and build on each other’s thinking. We value curiosity over certainty, kindness over ego, and the ability to balance craft with decisiveness. This role is based in San Francisco. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in brand or identity design with a portfolio demonstrating identity systems, logo design, and multi-channel brand work.
Strong expertise in typography, color, layout, and motion.
Experience building and evolving large-scale design systems that operate across digital and physical environments.
Ability to lead creative direction while collaborating closely with product, marketing, engineering, and executive stakeholders.
Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and guide teams toward clear visual outcomes.

Responsibilities

Lead the evolution of OpenAI’s visual identity
Own the development and evolution of OpenAI’s identity systems including logos, typography, color systems, and core visual principles.
Ensure the brand remains recognizable, cohesive, and adaptable across new products and initiatives.
Develop scalable brand systems
Create and maintain scalable templates, component libraries, and documentation that enable teams across the company to produce high-quality, on-brand work across web, motion, print, events, and out-of-home environments.
Connect product and brand expression
Partner with product design to ensure the visual language of our interfaces and products extends naturally into brand storytelling.
Translate product design language into expressive brand applications.
Guide creative direction across touchpoints
Provide creative direction across campaigns, launches, events, and major company moments to ensure the brand is expressed consistently and with a high level of craft.
Steward brand standards across the organization
Maintain and evolve brand guidelines while helping teams across OpenAI apply them effectively.
Provide feedback, develop toolkits, and support teams in maintaining visual consistency across all channels.
Lead and mentor designers
Help grow the brand identity discipline at OpenAI by mentoring designers, providing design direction, and contributing to a culture of strong craft and thoughtful systems thinking.