Economic Development Lead

OpenAI • San Francisco, CA

1d • $230,000 - $355,000

About The Position

The Economic Development Lead works upstream across the national pipeline, beginning engagement before a project is public and helping shape the incentive, relationship, community-benefit, and approval strategy for sites under evaluation. This role enters early during site evaluation and deal formation; once a project moves toward announcement, the dedicated Community Engagement Lead becomes the local owner while the Economic Development Lead continues to support agreement-linked commitments and incentive execution.

Requirements

• 8+ years in economic development, public-private partnerships, infrastructure development, government affairs, or a related field.
• Experience structuring and negotiating incentive packages for large infrastructure, energy, technology, or real estate projects.
• Strong relationships and judgment across local, state, and regional economic-development stakeholders.
• Ability to connect incentives, community benefits, legal commitments, project economics, and approval risk.
• Excellent cross-functional coordination, negotiation, and executive-communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own incentive strategy and negotiations.
• Build local and state economic-development relationships.
• Develop community-benefit commitments tied to project agreements.
• Coordinate with Site Selection, Land, Power, Legal, Finance, and Community Engagement.
• Identify political, commercial, and approval risks early.
• Transition local relationships and commitments to the assigned Community Engagement Lead as a project moves toward announcement.

What This Job Offers

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