AI Deployment Engineering Manager

OpenAI

. Craft and continuously refine the strategic vision and operating model for the Startups AI Deployment Engineering team, aligning it with OpenAI’s broader company objectives and the evolving needs of high-growth startup customers.

Posted 5/20/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $251,000 - $335,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Craft and continuously refine the strategic vision and operating model for the Startups AI Deployment Engineering team, aligning it with OpenAI’s broader company objectives and the evolving needs of high-growth startup customers.
Lead, mentor, and grow a team of high-performing technical ICs supporting startup customers across AI-native, developer-led, and product-led companies.
Help startups move from early experimentation to production usage by identifying technical blockers, advising on architecture, and driving practical paths to deployment.
Partner closely with Sales to determine where technical engagement can accelerate adoption, production usage, and long-term account growth.
Represent the technical voice of startup customers by synthesizing high-signal feedback, especially around developer experience, product gaps, deployment blockers, model performance, and emerging use cases.
Translate recurring startup needs into repeatable playbooks, starter packs, reference architectures, internal tooling, and customer-facing assets that help the broader team move faster.
Serve as a senior technical escalation point for priority startup customers, including founder-, CTO-, and technical executive-level conversations.
Balance urgent customer needs with OpenAI’s broader product and platform priorities, especially when startups request niche features, bespoke support, or accelerated roadmap changes.
Coach AI Deployment Engineers on technical quality, customer judgment, prioritization, executive communication, and cross-functional partnership.
Partner across Sales, Product, Engineering, Research, and other GTM teams to improve how OpenAI supports startups from early adoption through scaled production usage.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Have proven experience founding, scaling, or operating within early-stage startups, ideally in technical leadership roles where you owned both product or customer outcomes and technical execution.
Have a strong track record of building and leading technical, customer-facing teams in high-growth, ambiguous, or startup-heavy environments.
Bring strong technical depth across APIs, platform products, AI/ML systems, developer workflows, and production deployment considerations.
Have experience creating scalable operating models, not just managing one-off customer escalations.
Are comfortable working directly with founders, CTOs, technical executives, and highly technical ICs.
Demonstrate strong judgment about when to go deep for a strategic customer versus when to build repeatable mechanisms for the broader segment.
Can translate complex technical and product considerations into clear decisions, practical guidance, and customer-facing recommendations.
Operate with speed, iteration, and pragmatic customer impact without sacrificing quality, safety, or OpenAI’s long-term platform strategy.
Are personally committed to fostering the safe and beneficial development of AI.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
401(k) retirement plan with employer match
Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)
Mental health and wellness support
Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth
Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
Relocation support for eligible employees
Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

AI/ML systemsAPIsplatform productsdeveloper workflowsproduction deploymenttechnical executionoperating modelsarchitecturetechnical qualitycustomer judgment

Soft Skills

leadershipmentoringcommunicationjudgmentstrategic thinkingcustomer engagementcross-functional partnershipproblem-solvingadaptabilitycoaching