Deal Lead, Special Situations (Semiconductors)

📋 Description

• • Lead the identification and evaluation of high-value partnership opportunities in the semiconductor industry, translating industry pain points into AI-driven commercial theses that align with OpenAI’s capabilities.
• • Map the semiconductor partnership and competitive landscape, including internal AI teams and AI automation startups, to design differentiated partnership strategies that OpenAI can uniquely win and scale.
• • Rapidly learn and speak the language of the semiconductor ecosystem—including workflows, commercial dynamics, and technical constraints—to build credibility with both technical and business stakeholders.
• • Collaborate with Frontline Data Engineers (FDEs) and applied researchers to design multi-project programs that integrate models, tooling, data, and services into commercially viable outcomes partners will pay for.
• • Define clear use cases, scope, sequencing, and success metrics to transform ambiguous, early-stage opportunities into executable, structured programs with measurable milestones.
• • Craft compelling commercial and strategic narratives through decks, demos, proposals, and deal memos to align partners, internal executives, and cross-functional teams around a unified plan.
• • Articulate OpenAI’s differentiated value proposition versus internal AI development efforts or external AI automation vendors targeting the semiconductor market.
• • Structure, negotiate, and close non-standard partnerships involving complex commercial terms such as revenue share, royalties, joint development agreements, and bespoke licensing models.
• • Drive executive-level alignment and decision-making on tradeoffs, resourcing, and risk across organizational boundaries when deals have company-wide implications.
• • Build and lead coalitions of stakeholders from product, research, engineering, and GTM teams to execute complex, multi-year partnership programs without formal authority over team members.
• • Maintain momentum and adapt commercial and execution paths as scope, pricing, risk, and partnership structures evolve, delivering results without waiting for perfect information.
• • Establish structure and accountability across cross-functional teams to ensure deals convert into delivered outcomes, not just signed agreements.
• • Represent OpenAI with executive presence in high-stakes customer and partner discussions, from initial outreach through long-term strategic collaboration.
• • Shift focus to the next highest-leverage opportunity once a program is institutionalized and can operate independently of Special Situations.
• • Own the overall commercial success of each program while functional teams retain ownership of execution within their domains.
• • Operate in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment where repeatable playbooks do not yet exist, inventing new GTM and partnership models before they become scalable.
• • Balance technical depth with commercial acumen to bridge the gap between AI research capabilities and semiconductor industry needs.
• • Maintain a sharp, data-informed view of the competitive landscape and consistently articulate why OpenAI is the optimal partner for semiconductor companies seeking AI integration.