Program Director, High-Burden Diseases

OpenAI Foundation•San Francisco, CA

26d•$300,000 - $370,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The OpenAI Foundation is establishing a life sciences program to accelerate progress in curing diseases and improving human health. The program will initially focus on AI for Alzheimer's, Public Data for Health, and High-Burden Diseases. This role is a founding position within the Life Sciences and Curing Diseases program, focused on building the High-Burden Diseases initiative from the ground up. High-Burden Diseases are defined as those causing over 500,000 deaths and/or 25 million DALYs annually, with market failures leading to underinvestment in R&D, such as tuberculosis, newborn mortality, stroke, and Hepatitis B. The program invests in AI and data applications to advance R&D for preventing and treating these diseases globally. This is a generalist role requiring flexibility and strategic thinking to shape strategy, evaluate opportunities, engage with external organizations, and deploy resources. The role involves working across multiple focus areas, with the potential to specialize over time. The ideal candidate is flexible, thoughtful, strategic, and action-oriented, capable of moving between projects, engaging with experts, and translating the mission into actionable recommendations. The position is based in San Francisco, CA (strongly preferred) with a hybrid work model (3 days in office) and requires some travel.

Requirements

10-15+ years of relevant experience preferred.
Relevant experience in areas such as biology, chemistry, translational medicine, drug development, clinical practice, global health, biotechnology, venture or grant investing in life sciences, or related fields.
Ability to engage credibly across a range of scientific and strategic topics, even when not operating as the deepest domain specialist in each one.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate scientific, technical, or organizational opportunities and make strong recommendations.
Experience engaging credibly with external experts, institutions, and senior stakeholders.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and persuasively.
Strong strategic judgment combined with a bias toward execution and ability to move quickly.
Ability to work effectively in a highly ambiguous, evolving environment.
High degree of ownership, discretion, and accountability.
Deep motivation to help accelerate progress in life sciences and contribute to the Foundation’s mission.

Nice To Haves

Are excited to help build a new program from the ground up.
Are highly flexible and comfortable operating across multiple scientific and technical domains in a fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve over time.
Can take broad, ambiguous problems and turn them into clear recommendations, strong relationships, and concrete action.
Have strong judgment about people, organizations, and scientific opportunities across different areas of life sciences and health.
Are energized by learning quickly, context-switching across topics, and developing an independent view.
Have a global mindset and understanding of lower and middle income country (LMIC) contexts and realities.
Are curious and excited to explore the uses of AI in R&D and health interventions to accelerate and open up new intervention space in disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
Can balance strategic thinking with practical execution and detail-oriented follow-through.
Are comfortable making recommendations in areas where there is uncertainty and incomplete information.
Have the maturity and adaptability to work closely with leadership while also operating with substantial autonomy.
Would be excited both to work as a cross-cutting generalist and to potentially grow into ownership of a new focus area over time.
Care deeply about the Foundation’s mission and the opportunity to accelerate progress against major health challenges.

Responsibilities

Work closely with the Head of High-Burden Diseases and other team members to support strategy, grantmaking execution, and ongoing management across the portfolio.
Help source, evaluate, and recommend grants and other funding opportunities across multiple domains within the High-Burden Diseases program.
Help research new disease or technology areas and determine where the Foundation should focus and develop investment theses under which we will source and develop grants and funding opportunities.
Engage deeply with the external ecosystem, including researchers, nonprofits, startups, academic centers, funders, and other potential grantee organizations around the world.
Build and maintain relationships with leaders across a wide range of scientific and health-related fields relevant to the Foundation’s work.
Conduct diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders, including assessing scientific merit, execution capability, and potential for real-world impact.
Write clear internal recommendations, briefs, and strategy memos to support decision-making.
Identify gaps in the current ecosystem and develop ideas for how the Foundation can support new efforts, partnerships, or field-building initiatives.
Support the creation of new initiatives from zero-to-one, including helping shape concepts, convene stakeholders, and stand up new efforts where needed.
Over time, potentially take on broader ownership of a growing body of work.
Represent the Foundation in external conversations, helping to build credibility, source opportunities, and strengthen the broader field.