Strategic Sourcing & Partnerships - Software Tools & Licenses at OpenAI

San Francisco, California, United States

OpenAI Logo
$230,000 – $355,000Compensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductors, HardwareIndustries

Requirements

  • 8+ years in EDA/IP licensing/strategic sourcing, and supplier base strategy roles
  • Deep familiarity with vendors in EDA, IP, design services, and emulation
  • Strong commercial negotiation skills with a proven track record of securing favorable terms and managing complex contracts

Responsibilities

  • Lead end-to-end supplier and licensing strategy for EDA, IP, and large rack systems supporting OpenAI’s ASIC and infrastructure programs
  • Act as the single intake point for all license requests and partner engagements, maintaining inventory, rights management, and reuse policies across OpenAI
  • Own supplier selection, evaluation, pricing, contracting, renewals, and performance management across current and future partners
  • Rationalize licensing across organizations to maximize efficiency and eliminate duplicate spend, influencing engineering to support strategic consolidation efforts
  • Drive commercial structures and contracts for IP blocks, design services, verification, foundry/OSAT engagements, and NPI ramp support—ensuring shortened contract cycles and timely resource and capacity commitments
  • Lead emulator negotiations, capacity planning, and usage agreements; develop escalation paths to meet critical engineering needs
  • Build durable executive relationships with vendors, run QBRs, negotiate early-access programs, and align on joint roadmaps to provide visibility into OpenAI’s evolving supplier needs
  • Translate engineering requirements into sourcing specifications, terms, and license structures; manage vendor escalations and hold suppliers accountable for commitments
  • Partner closely with engineering, legal, and finance to balance trade-offs, serve as the single point of contact for Research/Scaling and other orgs, and ensure engagements are strategic rather than transactional to maximize OpenAI’s long-term leverage
  • Provide clear dashboards and reporting on spend, utilization, capacity, and risk
  • Potential expansion to include ASICs, custom silicon

Skills

EDA
IP Licensing
ASIC
Vendor Management
Contract Negotiation
Supplier Sourcing
Silicon Design
Emulation
Strategic Partnerships
Rack Systems

OpenAI

Develops safe and beneficial AI technologies

About OpenAI

OpenAI develops and deploys artificial intelligence technologies aimed at benefiting humanity. The company creates advanced AI models capable of performing various tasks, such as automating processes and enhancing creativity. OpenAI's products, like Sora, allow users to generate videos from text descriptions, showcasing the versatility of its AI applications. Unlike many competitors, OpenAI operates under a capped profit model, which limits the profits it can make and ensures that excess earnings are redistributed to maximize the social benefits of AI. This commitment to safety and ethical considerations is central to its mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) serves all of humanity.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2015Year Founded
$18,433.2MTotal Funding
LATE_VCCompany Stage
AI & Machine LearningIndustries
1,001-5,000Employees

Benefits

Health insurance
Dental and vision insurance
Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care
Mental healthcare service
Fertility treatment coverage
401(k) with generous matching
20-week paid parental leave
Life insurance (complimentary)
AD&D insurance (complimentary)
Short-term/long-term disability insurance (complimentary)
Optional buy-up life insurance
Flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off (we encourage 4+ weeks per year)
Annual learning & development stipend
Regular team happy hours and outings
Daily catered lunch and dinner
Travel to domestic conferences

Risks

Elon Musk's legal battle may pose financial and reputational challenges for OpenAI.
Customizable ChatGPT personas could lead to privacy and ethical concerns.
Competitors like Anthropic raising capital may intensify market competition.

Differentiation

OpenAI's capped profit model prioritizes ethical AI development over unlimited profit.
OpenAI's AI models, like Sora, offer unique video creation from text descriptions.
OpenAI's focus on AGI aims to create AI systems smarter than humans.

Upsides

OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding boosts its AI research and computational capacity.
Customizable ChatGPT personas enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
OpenAI's 'Operator' AI agent could revolutionize workforce automation by 2025.

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