OpenAI
AI
AIDeploymentEngineeringManager,Startups
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Senior candidates.
“AI Deployment Engineering Manager, Startups at OpenAI. Skills: AI Deployment Engineering, Team Leadership, Customer Partnership, Technical Strategy. Craft and continuously refine the strategic vision and operating model for the Startups AI Deployment Engineering team. Lead, mentor, and grow a team of high-performing technical ICs supporting startup customers”
What You'll Achieve.
Increased startup account usage, including tokens, requests, and production workloads; A cadence of successful customer sprints and production-oriented technical engagements; High-quality customer stories, founder and CTO satisfaction, and referenceable startup wins; Creation of repeatable startup deployment patterns, starter packs, templates, and reference architectures; Product and Research feedback loops informed by startup customer needs and emerging use cases; A healthy, high-performing team with prioritization, clear operating mechanisms, and the ability to scale coverage across a high-demand segment
Industry & Context.
hands-on problem-solving; identifying technical blockers; advising on architecture; driving practical paths to deployment
What They're Looking For.
Must 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, track record of building and leading technical, customer-facing teams in high-growth, ambiguous, or startup-heavy environments, technical depth across APIs, platform products, AI/ML systems, developer workflows, and production deployment considerations, experience creating scalable operating models, not just managing one-off customer escalations, comfortable working directly with founders, CTOs, technical executives, and highly technical ICs, 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, personally committed to fostering the safe and beneficial development of AI
What You'll Do.
Craft and continuously refine the strategic vision and operating model for the Startups AI Deployment Engineering team
and grow a team of high-performing technical ICs supporting startup customers
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
and long-term account growth
Represent the technical voice of startup customers by synthesizing high-signal feedback
Translate recurring startup needs into repeatable playbooks
reference architectures
and customer-facing assets
Serve as a senior technical escalation point for priority startup customers
Balance urgent customer needs with OpenAI’s broader product and platform priorities
Coach AI Deployment Engineers on technical quality
executive communication
and cross-functional partnership
and other GTM teams to improve how OpenAI supports startups
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner closely with Sales; Partner across Sales, Product, Engineering, Research, and other GTM teams
Communication Scope
executive communication; customer-facing recommendations
Process & Methodology
customer prioritization, balancing urgent customer needs with broader priorities
Full Job Description
ABOUT THE TEAM The AI Deployment Engineering team partners closely with customers to help them move from experimentation to production with OpenAI’s technologies. We act as trusted technical advisors, working across customer strategy, architecture, deployment, and adoption to help organizations realize meaningful impact from frontier AI. The Startups segment serves fast-moving, high-growth companies that are often building new products, workflows, and businesses directly on top of AI. These customers move quickly, operate with high ambiguity, and expect practical, creative, and technically rigorous partnership. ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for an AI Deployment Engineering Manager, Startups to lead and scale the Startups AI Deployment Engineering motion. This team helps high-growth startups move quickly from experimentation to production, unlock meaningful usage, and build durable technical partnerships with OpenAI. This leader will operate in a high-velocity customer segment where founders, CTOs, and technical teams expect speed, judgment, and hands-on problem-solving. They will balance team leadership, technical depth, customer prioritization, and cross-functional influence across Sales, Product, Engineering, Research, and broader go-to-market teams. In this role, you will define how OpenAI supports startup customers at scale: identifying where deep technical engagement can unlock outsized impact, building repeatable deployment mechanisms, and ensuring the team can serve a broad and dynamic customer base without losing quality or strategic focus. IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL - 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
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