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OpenAI · 2 days ago

Strategic Finance, B2B Transactions Lead

San Francisco, CA

Full-time

Hybrid

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

12+ years exp

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. They are hiring a senior leader in B2B Strategic Finance to work at the center of OpenAI’s most important deals, focusing on financial performance and resource allocation for B2B products.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Generative AIMachine LearningNatural Language ProcessingSaaS

Growth Opportunities

Responsibilities

Serve as the Strategic Finance partner to the Special Situations B2B team, acting as the primary financial thought partner on transformational research, partnership, and commercial transactions

Lead the financial workstream for complex deals — owning valuation, unit economics, scenario modeling, downside protection analysis, and sensitivity testing across revenue, compute cost, and cash flows

Design and evaluate bespoke commercial structures such as multi-year commitments, usage-based pricing, rev share, co-funded R&D, minimums, take-or-pay constructs, and combinations of commercial and strategic/equity components

Partner with Business Operations / Transactions Leads and deal owners to run end-to-end deal processes: shaping deal strategy, defining success metrics, supporting diligence, and ensuring clean hand-offs into execution and post-close tracking

Drive internal alignment and approvals by translating complex deal structures into clear financial narratives and decision frameworks for executive leadership and the Board (e.g., investment cases, trade-offs, risk/return profiles, and portfolio-level implications)

Build and maintain robust financial models and templates that make it easier to evaluate future Special Situations opportunities in a consistent, scalable way (e.g., standardizing how we model compute, margin, and long-term value creation)

Develop and refine prioritization frameworks that help the company decide which high-effort opportunities to pursue, when to say no, and how to compare transactions against one another and against “core” growth paths

Partner with Accounting, Tax, and Legal to ensure deal structures align with revenue recognition, compliance, and risk management considerations

Create post-close performance tracking and reporting for Special Situations deals, including dashboards and readouts that help leadership understand whether deals are delivering the intended strategic and financial outcomes

Contribute to long-term partnership and transaction strategy, helping shape how Special Situations fits into our broader B2B and corporate development roadmap

Help build the B2B Finance function itself, modeling high standards for analytical rigor, cross-functional partnership, and judgment in highly ambiguous environments

Qualification

Strategic FinanceFinancial ModelingDeal StructuringComplex TransactionsCross-functional CollaborationAnalytical SkillsCuriosity about AICommunication SkillsProblem Solving

Required

12+ years of progressive experience in Strategic Finance, Corporate Development, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Venture Capital, or Management Consulting, with significant direct deal execution experience

A track record working on complex, bespoke transactions — such as large strategic partnerships, multi-year enterprise deals, or investment/partnership hybrids — ideally in a high-growth technology context

Deep modeling and analytical skills, including comfort with multi-scenario P&L, cash flow, and balance sheet modeling, and the ability to incorporate technical / operational constraints into deal economics

Strong understanding of deal dynamics and financial structuring — from valuation and pricing mechanics to risk-sharing, performance incentives, and integration considerations

Demonstrated ability to bring structure to ambiguity: framing problems, breaking down complex opportunities, and guiding senior stakeholders through trade-offs and recommendations

Exceptional communication and executive presence, with a proven ability to explain complex financial concepts to technical, non-technical, and executive audiences and to influence decisions with clear, concise narratives

Experience collaborating closely with cross-functional partners (e.g., Legal, Product, Engineering, Partnerships, BizOps) on high-stakes, time-sensitive projects

High comfort operating in a fast-paced, unstructured environment, with a 'roll up your sleeves' mentality and bias toward action

Deep curiosity about AI and its impact on enterprises, industries, and capital flows, and enthusiasm for helping define how frontier AI is adopted across the world