Head Of Procurement Jobs

About The Team
OpenAI’s mission is to build safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) which benefits all of humanity. This long-term undertaking brings the world’s best scientists, engineers, and business professionals together under one organization to accomplish this.
We're building the most advanced AI models and platforms, making it easy for developers and customers to benefit from AI via the OpenAI API and ChatGPT. Our API also provides developers access to Codex – a model that translates natural language into code – and we partnered with GitHub to create an AI pair programmer, Copilot. We're working to bring other research efforts into the API such as DALL-E 2 (our text to image generator) and CLIP (our state-of-the-art image classifier).
OpenAI Finance is responsible for ensuring the organization is set up for success in pursuit of its mission. The Head of Procurement is a financial linchpin for the organization; this role works with the entire organization to streamline vendor negotiations, drive cost savings, and secure critical inputs to our research and commercial progress.
About The Role
We’re looking for a Head of Procurement that will lead all aspects of OpenAI’s vendor strategy, inclusive of managing the full vendor lifecycle. You will deliver maximum value to the organization through streamlined vendor negotiations, realized cost savings, and improved supplier performance. This role requires deep expertise in SaaS and technology and a proven ability to balance concurrent priorities across multiple departments.
This strategic, yet hands-on role will report to the VP Finance and work closely with OpenAI legal and senior department leads across the organization. You will be a key player in driving the financial success of the organization by building–and sustaining–a world-class procurement function.
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.
In This Role, You Will

• Provide recurring insight to OpenAI leadership that covers vendor performance, strategies, programs, practices, and key issues
• Partner with broader OpenAI Finance to analyze financial performance and improve forecasting, planning, and measurement of all sourcing efforts
• Build a culture around long-term savings on procurement; identify and realize cost-saving and cost-reduction opportunities without compromising supply assurance or quality
• Establish partnerships with key business partners aimed at identifying, understanding and fulfilling their procurement requirements in an unprecedented, dynamic organization
• Establish OpenAI’s strategic sourcing strategy and create a framework for vendor engagement, evaluation, and long-term partnership
• Lead contract negotiation, develop standard negotiation approaches and fallback positions, and identify critical benchmarks to measure engagement success
• Manage, coach, and develop a high performing procurement team

We’re Looking For a Blend Of

• Deep understanding of artificial intelligence development and the key inputs to its success
• Experience working with modern software and systems, particularly Airbase and Vena
• Bachelor's degree with 15+ years of progressive experience in senior procurement leadership roles with a proven ability to scale supply chain operations in high-growth, innovative, and complex organizations
• Knowledge of modern procurement practices–particularly in SaaS–and ability to define and implement infrastructure requirements that enable world-class procurement operations
• Exemplary interpersonal skills as demonstrated by the ability to negotiate and deliver on complex contracts spanning multiple supplier industries
• Strong command of vendor performance management, contract administration, and supplier or third party management software

You Might Thrive In This Role If

• You’re excited about new challenges. The process of solving complex problems invigorates you. Novel issues requiring multidimensional knowledge excite you.
• You’re passionate about technology and artificial intelligence.
• You’re an enthusiastic self-starter. You thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, and expect to lead multiple aspects of vendor relations. You take ownership of your work and believe that a job not done well is a job not done.
• You’re a builder. You not only embrace the opportunity to have a direct impact on how a company operates, you revel in it. An organization relies on the quality of its foundation and your passion is building strong systems and processes from the ground up.
• You’re a world-class leader. You mentor those around you, help set agendas, and unblock company-wide issues. You identify opportunities for cross-functional improvements and emphatically step in to contribute to them. Your commitment to quality is unwavering and you coach the work of those around you to join you at this elevated level.
• You’re a phenomenal teammate. You’re a strong communicator who can translate the needs of your business partners into tangible agreements with external vendors. You intuitively understand the importance of keeping everyone in the loop, and you take proactive measures to do so. You’re intellectually honest.

About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.
Compensation, Benefits And Perks
The annual salary range for this role is $210,000 – $260,000. Total compensation also includes generous equity and benefits.

• Unlimited time off and 18+ company holidays per year
• Annual learning & development stipend ($1,500 per year)
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family
• Mental health and wellness support
• 401(k) plan with 4% matching
• Paid parental leave (20 weeks) and family-planning support

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.
OpenAI US Applicant Privacy Policy