Government Partnerships Communications Lead

About the Team OpenAI's mission is to ensure that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. Our Communications team includes External Communications, Internal Communications, and other strategic communications functions. The team's role is to clearly and authentically explain our technology, values, and approach to safely building powerful AI. About the Role We are seeking an exceptional communications professional to lead communications support for OpenAI's partnerships with federal, state, and local governments and our broader public-sector enterprise work. This person will help tell the story of how governments are using AI, support major customer and partner moments, and lead communications across priority areas including cybersecurity, biodefense, national security, science, and public-sector adoption. This role will partner closely with Global Affairs, public-sector go-to-market and partnerships, legal, product, research, safety, and security teams to develop clear external communications for media, policymakers, customers, and the public. The ideal candidate will bring strong strategic and tactical communications judgment, move quickly and collaboratively on complex issues, and have a passion for technology and storytelling. In this role, you will: Developing and executing communications plans that educate press, policymakers, customers, and the public about OpenAI's government partnerships and public-sector work Building proactive campaigns and customer stories that demonstrate how AI can improve public services, strengthen government workforces, and support critical missions Leading communications across priority areas including cybersecurity, biodefense, national security, science, and state and local government partnerships Building deep relationships with national, state, local, technology, policy, and enterprise media and managing inbound requests Partnering cross-functionally with Global Affairs, public-sector go-to-market, legal, product, research, safety, security, and other teams Providing counsel and communications support to senior leaders and partners across interviews, speeches, events, and other public moments Anticipating communications risks and developing thoughtful mitigation and response strategies You might thrive in this role if you have: 7+ years of professional communications and media relations experience, including work on government, enterprise technology, national security, cybersecurity, biodefense, or other highly scrutinized issues A strong track record of driving media campaigns in support of policy, partnership, or business priorities Experience translating complex technical and policy work into clear, credible external narratives Proven success building relationships and collaborating with press, executives, government partners, and cross-functional teams Strong political and policy judgment, high ownership, and comfort operating quickly in an environment with limited structure Workplace & Location This role is based in Washington, DC, and will require occasional travel. 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 . 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 inform