US External Affairs Associate, Global Affairs

About this role

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 U.S. External Affairs Associate, you will work with the team leads to help advance OpenAI's engagement with civil rights organizations, civil society groups, researchers, community-based organizations, and other external stakeholders shaping 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

- Build and maintain trusted relationships with civil rights, civil society, research, community, labor, 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.

- Prepare OpenAI executives and subject-matter experts for external meetings, convenings, roundtables, and public events.

- 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 concerns and opportunities related to data and trust, deepfakes, child safety, job displacement, energy costs, copyright, civil and human rights, mental health, and other areas of public concern.

- Coordinate closely with Global Affairs, Communications, Legal, Safety, Product, Research, and other internal teams to ensure stakeholder engagement is accurate, thoughtful, and useful to the business.

- Track relationship health, engagement outcomes, commitments, risks, and follow-ups so the team can operate with accountability and continuity.

You Might Thrive In This Role If You

- Are deeply familiar with the civil society, civil rights, and technology policy landscape in the United States.

- Are an effective coalition builder who can earn trust with a wide range of stakeholders, including groups that may be skeptical of OpenAI or AI more broadly.

- Enjoy working in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where strategy, execution, and judgment all matter.

- Can move easily between external relationship-building and internal cross-functional coordination.

- Are comfortable translating technical and policy complexity into clear, useful materials for non-technical audiences.

- Have strong instincts for where public trust, policy risk, and product reality intersect.

- Are energized by the promise of AI while taking seriously its potential harms and uneven impacts.

We’re looking for someone with:

- Established network and credibility with civil society, civil rights, research, community, and other stakeholder organizations, including groups representing underrepresented communities.

- Deep experience in technology policy, public policy, public affairs, civil society engagement, advocacy, campaigns, or a related field.

- Strong understanding of the federal, state, and local policy institutions, processes, and debates shaping AI governance in the United States.

- Demonstrated ability to design and execute stakeholder engagement strategies tied to concrete policy, partnership, or public trust objectives.

- Excellent communication, presentation, briefing, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex technical and policy concepts to diverse audiences.

- Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage shared resources, timelines, follow-ups, and cross-functional workstreams.

- Sound judgment, high integrity, and the ability to operate thoughtfully on sensitive or high-salience issues.

- Proven ability to work with cross-functional teams, es

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