Program Manager, National Security Policy Operations
San Francisco · Washington, DC · 5+ years experience · Full-time · Hybrid · Posted Oct 19, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 5+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Workplace
- Hybrid
- Location
- San Francisco · Washington, DC
About OpenAI
- OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
- We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
- For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement https://cdn.openai.com/policies/eeo-policy-statement.pdf.
- Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.
- To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form https://form.asana.com/?d=57018692298241&k=5MqR40fZd7jlxVUh5J-UeA. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.
- We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link https://form.asana.com/?k=bQ7w9h3iexRlicUdWRiwvg&d=57018692298241.
About the role
- OpenAI is seeking a highly organized and skilled Program Manager, National Security Policy Operations to join the Global Affairs team.
- This is a hands-on program management role focused on running the planning, coordination, and execution systems that enable the team to operate effectively.
Responsibilities
- Run portfolio planning and team operations, including intake, workplans, milestones, owners, dependencies, risks, and progress reporting.
- Build and maintain lightweight, repeatable operating systems for planning, meeting cadences, knowledge management, decision logs, and centralized tracking.
- Own the team's program metrics and central tracking of commitments, owners, deadlines, dependencies, decisions, and follow-up.
- Coordinate policy deliverables and external engagements from planning through follow-up, including briefing packages, presentations, and logistics.
- Own operational management of the team's contractors and consultants, coordinating onboarding, scopes of work, deliverables, renewals, invoices, and offboarding.
- Coordinate across Global Affairs, Research, Safety, Security, Product Policy, Legal, Communications, and OpenAI for Government to manage dependencies and advance shared priorities.
- Continuously improve the team's operating model through feedback loops, retrospectives, and thoughtful use of AI, automation, and lightweight tooling.
Requirements
- 5+ years of relevant experience in program management, project management, policy operations, strategic operations, chief of staff, government program delivery, or related roles.
- A track record of independently driving complex cross-functional programs from scoping through delivery, managing stakeholders, dependencies, and risks.
- Strong analytical, writing, and communication skills, with the ability to synthesize quantitative and qualitative inputs into crisp decision materials and action plans.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience supporting policy, government, national security, or technical teams.
- Familiarity with areas such as frontier risk, cybersecurity, biosecurity, critical infrastructure, defense and intelligence applications, or technical AI governance.
- Formal project or program management certification is welcome but not required.
Workplace
- May be based in San Francisco or Washington, DC
- Requires travel as necessary
Skills
- AI
- Automation
