Senior Counsel, Commercial

OpenAI, Inc.

Job Overview

Location

San Francisco

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Serve as the primary legal partner for OpenAI’s commercial transactions, partnerships, and business operations, providing strategic legal guidance to GTM, Partnerships, Procurement, Finance, Product, Infrastructure, and Engineering teams.
• Draft, negotiate, and manage complex commercial contracts including vendor agreements, partnership deals, licensing arrangements, and service contracts with high-stakes business impact.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate commercial, regulatory, privacy, and compliance risks arising from AI-related business activities and technology deployments.
• Develop scalable legal frameworks and processes to support rapid business growth while maintaining alignment with OpenAI’s mission of safe and responsible AI deployment.
• Monitor evolving regulatory landscapes affecting artificial intelligence, technology, and data use, and advise leadership on compliance obligations across jurisdictions.
• Collaborate with OpenAI’s global legal team to ensure consistent legal strategy and alignment on cross-border commercial matters and jurisdiction-specific requirements.
• Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice that balances risk mitigation with operational agility, enabling teams to move quickly without compromising legal integrity.
• Act as a trusted advisor to non-legal stakeholders, translating complex legal concepts into clear, actionable guidance tailored to diverse audiences and business contexts.
• Proactively anticipate legal challenges in emerging AI commercial applications and propose innovative solutions that support responsible innovation.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry standards, emerging technologies, and legal precedents in AI, data privacy, intellectual property, and technology contracting.
• Build and sustain strong cross-functional relationships across departments to embed legal thinking into business decision-making at every stage of the commercial lifecycle.
• Exercise sound judgment in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where legal precedent is limited and regulatory guidance is evolving.
• Contribute to the development of internal legal playbooks, templates, and training materials to increase team efficiency and empower non-legal teams to operate within legal boundaries.
• Ensure all commercial legal activities comply with applicable laws including those governing data protection, export controls, antitrust, and consumer protection.
• Participate in high-level strategic planning sessions to align legal strategy with company objectives and product roadmaps.
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding proprietary information, trade secrets, and sensitive business data accessed in the course of legal counsel.
• Adhere to OpenAI’s hybrid work model, requiring three days per week in the San Francisco office.

🎯 Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in commercial law, combining in-house and technology-focused law firm roles
• Demonstrated expertise in drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts
• Strong background in technology, AI, or data-related legal matters
• Proven ability to operate independently in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to tailor legal advice for non-legal stakeholders
• Sound judgment in ambiguous or rapidly changing regulatory landscapes

🏖️ Benefits

• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge legal challenges at the forefront of AI innovation
• Collaborative environment with a global legal team across multiple jurisdictions
• Hybrid work model with three days per week in the San Francisco office
• Employment with a mission-driven organization dedicated to ensuring AI benefits all of humanity

Skills & Technologies

Senior

Hybrid

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OpenAI, Inc.

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About OpenAI, Inc.

OpenAI is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research and deployment company founded in 2015. It develops large-scale AI models such as GPT, DALL-E, and Codex, providing cloud APIs and consumer applications like ChatGPT. Originally established as a non-profit, it later created a capped-profit subsidiary to attract capital while maintaining its mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

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