Infrastructure Sourcing Operations Lead

About the Team

OpenAIs Industrial Compute organization is building and scaling the infrastructure required to support frontier AI. The Infrastructure Strategic Sourcing team connects technical and project requirements to supplier readiness contracting purchasing equipment delivery and portfolio-level risk visibility across owner-furnished contractor-installed equipment (OFCI) data center networking rack systems and integration fiber cabling optical interconnects and related infrastructure.

The team partners across Pre-Construction Design Construction Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Network Engineering Hardware and Rack Delivery Strategic Sourcing Procurement Legal Finance Accounts Payable Logistics and external suppliers. We build the operating mechanisms that keep sourcing decisions purchase execution long-lead equipment network and fiber dependencies rack readiness and delivery commitments aligned to infrastructure schedules.

About the Role

We are seeking an Infrastructure Sourcing Operations Lead to own procurement operations across pre-construction design construction and sourcing through purchase order issuance while maintaining visibility through invoice resolution production logistics delivery installation and readiness. The portfolio includes electrical and mechanical OFCI networking equipment rack systems and integration fiber cabling optical interconnects and other infrastructure required to bring capacity online.

In this role you will set priorities make or escalate decisions that affect cost supplier relationships contractual position and delivery schedules and define the standards used by execution support for queue management documentation tracker maintenance and recurring reporting. Success requires sound commercial and program judgment operational rigor systems thinking and the ability to turn incomplete information across vendors tools and project teams into clear decisions accountable actions and credible leadership reporting.

Key Responsibilities

• Own sourcing-operations intake and prioritization translating requirements and need-by dates across electrical and mechanical OFCI networking rack systems fiber cabling optical interconnects and related infrastructure into actionable procurement workstreams aligned to project schedules.

• Drive vendor readiness and onboarding; own exceptions stakeholder commitments escalations and readiness decisions before purchase execution.

• Lead contract coordination for NDAs service agreements master agreements statements of work and related workflows; resolve nonstandard business issues and drive Legal and stakeholder decisions.

• Own purchase-order strategy package quality approval sequencing urgent escalations and exceptions through PO issuance.

• Review invoice exceptions involving quantity pricing tax delivery evidence payment terms or other commercial discrepancies and determine the recommended resolution.

• Maintain portfolio visibility across electrical and mechanical OFCI networking equipment rack systems and integration fiber cabling optical interconnects and related infrastructure from design and configuration readiness through production shipment delivery installation testing and exception closure; assess critical-path and capacity impact and lead supplier escalation.

• Own source-of-record requirements including data definitions status logic milestones permissions restricted cost visibility governance and reporting quality.

• Design and continuously improve operating mechanisms SOPs intake processes templates escalation paths and tool workflows across Procurement Legal Finance vendors and Infrastructure teams.

• Produce concise leadership reporting that distinguishes facts from assumptions surfaces aging decisions and material risks quantifies schedule or commercial impact and recommends action.

Qualifications

• 8 years of experience in sourcing operations procurement infrastructure program management construction operations supply chain or a related field or equivalent demonstrated experience.

• Demonstrated ownership of complex procurement or capital-project workflows spanning vendor readiness contracting PO execution invoice management and delivery tracking.

• Experience integrating supplier commitments and long-lead requirements across OFCI networking rack systems fiber cabling or interconnect infrastructure with design construction commissioning deployment and operational need-by dates.

• Strong critical-path risk-management and recovery-planning capability with evidence of driving issues through closure under schedule pressure.

• Experience building scalable operating mechanisms dashboards KPIs trackers SOPs and governance for data distributed across multiple systems and stakeholders.

• Sound commercial judgment and the ability to frame nonstandard contract pricing invoice or supplier issues for timely decisions.

• Proven ability to influence Procurement Legal Finance Engineering Construction suppliers and senior leaders without direct authority.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including concise executive updates and clear separation of facts assumptions risks and recommendations.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent high-priority workstreams in a fast-paced and ambiguous environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with hyperscale data centers AI infrastructure cloud infrastructure mission-critical facilities advanced manufacturing or other large capital programs.

• Working knowledge of critical electrical and mechanical OFCI data center networking rack architecture and integration fiber and structured cabling optical interconnects controls and commissioning equipment including the dependencies from design and configuration readiness through delivery testing installation and startup.

• Experience with procurement contract-lifecycle workflow and reporting platforms.

• Experience launching tools participating in user acceptance testing training users and driving adoption of standardized processes.

• Bachelors degree in engineering construction management supply chain business operations finance or equivalent practical experience; relevant professional certification is a plus.

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 OpenAIs 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 addition job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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Required Experience:

Manager