Head of Strategic Sourcing - Services

OpenAI•San Francisco, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a leader to define and drive sourcing strategy across a broad portfolio of services categories at OpenAI. This role will shape how OpenAI sources professional services across the company, guide key decisions on supplier strategy and commercial models, and build the capabilities needed to scale this domain over time. This is a highly strategic leadership role with broad cross-functional scope and significant visibility. You will partner with senior leaders across Finance, Legal, Security, People, GTM, Research, Engineering, Real Estate & Workplace, and other functions to define category strategies, guide complex commercial decisions, and build scalable ways of working that improve speed, clarity, and value. This role requires experience building and scaling sourcing in fast-moving environments — from establishing foundational capabilities and team structure to leading complex, high-spend, high-volume portfolios. You will lead and be accountable for a growing team responsible for managing complex, high-stakes services engagements end-to-end, while evolving the sourcing model, supplier governance, and commercial approach needed to support OpenAI’s growth. This role reports into the Vice President of Procurement. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, vendor management, or commercial leadership, with significant depth across services categories.
Proven success leading high-stakes sourcing initiatives with enterprise-wide visibility across business units or critical categories.
A track record of defining long-term supplier strategies and partnerships that drive value beyond cost — through innovation, speed, resilience, and capability growth.
Strong experience guiding complex commercial decisions across a wide range of professional and operational services.
Excellent executive presence and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders, align cross-functional partners, and navigate complex tradeoffs with sound judgment.
Experience designing scalable sourcing models, frameworks, and tools that reduce complexity and improve outcomes.
Strong judgment in ambiguity and the ability to independently define, prioritize, and lead multiple highly complex workstreams.
Demonstrated people leadership, including leading experienced teams, developing talent, and balancing near-term execution with long-term capability building.
Experience building trusted cross-functional relationships and operating effectively in fast-moving, high-growth, high-ambiguity environments.

Responsibilities

Lead sourcing strategy across a broad services portfolio that supports teams across OpenAI.
Partner across every business unit to shape sourcing strategies for professional services, ensuring teams can access the capabilities they need with the right balance of speed, value, and governance.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior and executive leadership on services strategy, supplier ecosystems, commercial tradeoffs, and risk.
Define category strategies, supplier segmentation approaches, negotiation playbooks, and commercial frameworks that improve speed, consistency, and leverage.
Engage early on high-impact services decisions to shape supplier selection, deal structures, and commercial outcomes in the areas that matter most to OpenAI’s speed, resilience, and stewardship.
Guide high-stakes sourcing decisions across a diverse set of services categories, including areas such as Real Estate and Workplace services.
Build supplier strategies that drive value beyond cost, including speed, service quality, resilience, flexibility, and access to critical capabilities.
Leverage market insight and supplier intelligence to inform strategy, strengthen negotiations, and improve business outcomes.
Independently prioritize and lead multiple highly complex workstreams across a fast-evolving services landscape.
Build scalable sourcing models, governance mechanisms, and automation-enabled ways of working that improve decision quality and increase leverage across the team.
Establish supplier KPIs, scorecards, and business review mechanisms across critical service providers.
Build visibility into pipeline, cycle times, supplier performance, commercial outcomes, and category risks so leaders can make faster, better-informed decisions and drive stronger execution across the portfolio.
Be accountable for team performance, operating outcomes, talent development, and management excellence across a high-performing team of experienced sourcing professionals.
Set direction, establish priorities, and strengthen the capabilities, leadership, and organizational capacity needed to scale services sourcing over time.