Chief of Staff, Civil Society & Philanthropy
OpenAI Foundation · San Francisco · hybrid
ABOUT OPENAI FOUNDATION
AI is already changing how people work, learn, and access care. It has the potential to unlock extraordinary benefits—faster medical breakthroughs, accelerated scientific discovery, more personalized services in healthcare and education, new tools for creativity and invention, higher productivity and economic growth, improved public services like transportation systems, and so much more.
But building powerful systems to benefit humanity is only a part of the work of our mission. Advanced AI models will also present new challenges that are already surfacing, and we need to be prepared to identify these challenges and develop solutions to address them.
These are the two dimensions of what we’re building the Foundation to do. We aim to enable the use of AI to find solutions to humanity’s hardest problems, transform what people are capable of, and deliver real benefits in people’s lives—while working hard with partners to be ready for new challenges, and to help make society resilient, as AI advances.
This work is just beginning. Over the next year, as we quickly ramp up, the Foundation expects to invest at least $1 billion across life sciences and curing diseases, jobs and economic impact, AI resilience, and community programs. This includes early investments toward our previously announced $25 billion commitment to curing diseases and AI resilience.
ABOUT CIVIL SOCIETY AND PHILANTHROPY
Civil Society and Philanthropy is an OpenAI Foundation team dedicated to putting advanced AI to work on challenges facing people and communities globally and helping shape an economic future in which AI’s benefits are broadly shared. We partner with nonprofit and civil society organizations and governments around the world, putting in place the resources needed to ensure AI can meaningfully support their work.
We combine philanthropic investment, technical expertise, and convening power to work alongside trusted partners that deliver essential services and expand economic opportunity across geographies and issue areas. Together, we identify opportunities where AI can strengthen their work, expand their reach, and tangibly benefit their communities. Our economic futures work extends this mission to how AI is reshaping work and livelihoods, helping people and communities navigate economic change and advancing approaches that translate AI’s gains into broadly shared prosperity.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Chief of Staff for the Civil Society and Philanthropy Division will be a strategic and operational partner to the Division Head, helping shape priorities, focus leadership attention, and build and run the growing Division. The CoS will maintain a clear view of the division’s work, challenge assumptions, exercise independent judgment, and drive important work from an ambiguous problem through to results. You will also own the systems for planning, communication, and follow-through that enable the whole team to deliver. You will work closely with the Foundation’s finance, legal, communications, and operations teams. This role calls for initiative, sound judgment, attention to detail, and a willingness to do the work needed to keep the team moving.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA, with a minimum of three days per week in the office.
This role reports to the Division Head, Civil Society and Philanthropy.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
SHAPE PRIORITIES AND DRIVE FOLLOW-THROUGH
- Partner with the Division Head to shape priorities, identify where their attention will have the greatest impact, and translate decisions into plans with clear owners, milestones, and deadlines.
- Maintain a clear view of progress, risks, and opportunities across initiatives and team commitments, connecting insights across the division and acting early where course corrections are needed.
- Identify and frame strategic, operational, and organizational questions before they become blockers; challenge assumptions, conduct research and analysis, and recommend practical actions to the Division Head and team.
RUN THE TEAM’S PLANNING AND COORDINATION
- Run the planning calendar, progress reviews, and team offsites, including agendas, preparation, decision records, and action tracking.
- Coordinate with program teams, finance, legal, communications, and operations to move agreed work forward and resolve dependencies.
- Identify bottlenecks and missed commitments early, exercise independent judgment to resolve issues where feasible, and develop recommendations on competing priorities and resource tradeoffs. Partner with the Division leadership on budget and resource questions.
PREPARE LEADERSHIP AND BOARD MATERIALS
- Draft and assemble Board presentations and briefs, coordinating team contributions and incorporating substantive review.
- Prepare briefing notes and follow-up for leadership and partner meetings. Handle agreed operational and external discussions and communicate decisions accurately.
LEAD PRIORITY PROJECTS AND IMPROVE TEAM WORKFLOWS
- Independently lead selected projects from scoping through implementation, including new initiative launches, partnership implementation, and improvements to program delivery.
- Build and manage systems for project tracking, knowledge sharing, and team coordination as the division grows.
- Make AI a core part of how you and the team work, using it effectively for research, analysis, drafting, and coordination to improve quality and increase what the team can deliver. Build or adapt tools and workflows, verify outputs, and help colleagues adopt effective practices.
SUPPORT HIRING AND HELP NEW COLLEAGUES SUCCEED
- Coordinate recruiting processes for agreed roles, working with hiring managers and recruiting partners to track progress and keep candidates and interview teams informed.
- Organize onboarding, document how the team works, and help new colleagues gain the context, relationships, and tools they need to contribute quickly.
- Support development of performance management cadence and approach.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
- Have 5 –10+ years of experience in roles like program management, strategy and operations, strategy consulting, program leadership, or early-stage startups
- Demonstrated experience at turning ambiguous problems into structured plans and executed outcomes
- Experience building an initiative or operating function from an early stage, leading people or cross-functional teams, and delivering in fast-moving environments with significant ownership and limited guidance
- Strong analytical skills: the ability to structure an unfamiliar problem, assess evidence, and prepare clear options and recommendations for senior leaders.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to draft concise briefs, presentations, and updates for different audiences.
- Ability to build trust across teams, work effectively with senior leaders and external partners, and handle sensitive information with discretion.
- AI-native working habits: demonstrated ability to use AI highly effectively in real workflows to produce better work and get more done, with sound judgment about its limitations and careful verification of outputs. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate this in a practical work exercise.
- A hands-on approach, close attention to detail, and reliable follow-through, with a commitment to serving as the team’s full-time Chief of Staff.
- Commitment to the Foundation’s mission and to expanding human opportunity through responsible AI adoption.
- Prior Chief of Staff experience, experience supporting an executive, and responsibility for operations in a growing team.
- Ability to move easily between strategy, operations, and organizational questions, work effectively with technical or other specialized teams, and get up to speed quickly on unfamiliar topics.
- Familiarity with civil society, philanthropy, or the societal impacts of AI.
COMPENSATION
The annual base