US External Affairs Manager, Global Affairs

About the Team

OpenAI's mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. The U.S. Policy and Partnerships team sits within Global Affairs and helps translate that mission into trusted, practical engagement with civil society, community leaders, researchers, and other external stakeholders across the United States.

Our current operating model is built around disciplined, cross-functional campaigns: moving from abstract persuasion to local proof, pairing policy expertise with real-world use cases, and working with trusted validators who can help communities understand, shape, and benefit from AI. The team works closely with colleagues across Global Affairs, Legal, Safety, Communications, Product, Research, and other functions to build relationships that are substantive, durable, and grounded in two-way learning.

About the Role

As the U.S. External Affairs Manager, you will lead a portfolio spanning civil rights partnerships and federal AI policy, working with team leads to shape and advance OpenAI's engagement with civil rights organizations, civil society groups, researchers, community-based organizations, and federal policymakers. This role combines independent strategic ownership, policy judgment, and external representation to help shape the AI policy debate in the United States.

This role is central to the team's partnership and outreach operating model. You will help identify priority stakeholders, design engagement strategies, and build the external relationships and feedback loops. The work is not about one-way education; it is about co-design, listening, product and policy learning, and creating concrete proof points that can strengthen public trust.

Reporting to the External Affairs Lead, you will work across the U.S. Policy and Partnerships team and in close coordination with State and Local Policy, Federal Affairs, Communications, Safety, Legal, Product, and Research. OpenAI is evolving quickly as we release new research, products, and tools. Day-to-day work may include representing OpenAI at convenings, designing a stakeholder strategy around a fast-moving policy issue, organizing partner briefings, preparing product and policy explainers, supporting local proof-point campaigns, coordinating quarterly partner reviews, or translating feedback from civil society into actionable insights for internal teams.

This role is based in Washington, DC and may require frequent travel to meet with key stakeholders. We offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In This Role, You Will

- Develop and lead federal AI policy initiatives within your portfolio in partnership with Federal Affairs, connecting civil society priorities, community feedback, and practical use cases to OpenAI's policy positions and advocacy.

- Build and maintain trusted relationships with civil rights, civil society, research, community, education, accessibility and other stakeholder organizations relevant to OpenAI's U.S. policy priorities.

- Help execute a repeatable engagement operating model grounded in co-design, localized benefits, trusted validators, cross-functional planning, and regular partner reviews.

- Develop stakeholder maps, engagement plans, briefing materials, and follow-up systems for priority policy campaigns and rapid-response moments.

- Support federal and state engagement strategies by identifying credible third-party voices, local proof points, and community feedback that can inform policy positions and advocacy.

- Represent OpenAI in senior-level policy discussions and external convenings, and prepare executives and subject-matter experts for meetings, roundtables, and public events, in coordination with Federal Affairs and relevant internal leads.

- Translate complex AI product, safety, and policy topics into clear materials for external audiences, including standing content packs and deeper product briefings for technology policy stakeholders.

- Surface external concern