Research Program Manager

San Franciscofull timeOn Site

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mid

$239k–$328k

H1B: yes

OpenAI Research Program Manager at OpenAI partners with research teams to coordinate execution of AI research projects including model training, safety, and infrastructure. Engages hands-on with technical workflows and helps navigate tradeoffs and decisions.

Responsibilities

As a Research Program Manager, you will embed with research teams and help drive some of the most technically complex and consequential work behind OpenAI’s model development. Depending on your focus, your work may span training, reasoning, evaluations, compute, research infrastructure, safety, model launch readiness, and governance.
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.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Have 5+ years of experience in research program management, technical program management, or related roles in fast-moving environments.
Can engage substantively with researchers and engineers on topics such as model training, experimental design, model safety, evaluation methods, data workflows, compute infrastructure, or distributed systems.
Are comfortable working directly with technical tools, research data, experimental results, or operational workflows to understand problems and develop practical solutions.
Have a strong track record of moving complex, ambiguous technical initiatives forward across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Can distinguish what is known from what is uncertain, ask incisive technical questions, and help teams make sound decisions with incomplete information.
Know how to introduce structure without creating unnecessary processes, and care about making researchers more effective.
Bring a high bar for quality and can recognize when evidence, evaluation results, or execution plans need closer scrutiny.
Communicate clearly across technical and nontechnical audiences, including researchers, engineers, and organizational leaders.
Take ownership without waiting for perfect conditions, adapt quickly as priorities change, and follow difficult problems through to resolution.

Qualification

Required

5+ years experience in research or technical program management
Ability to engage substantively with researchers and engineers on technical topics
Strong track record of moving complex technical initiatives forward
Ability to introduce structure without unnecessary processes
High bar for quality and scrutiny of evidence and execution plans