Program Manager Lead

Role Description

OpenAI is seeking a Program Manager Lead to own end-to-end program execution for the Hardware team once strategy and scope are set. This role will partner closely with Brand Marketing on goals, roadmaps, operating models, and launch priorities, translating that direction into actionable plans, workstreams, ownership, cadences, resource plans, risk management, and execution.

You will provide the operating spine for complex creative programs, creating clarity across goals, roadmaps, owners, decisions, dependencies, resources, risks, and next steps. You will ensure approved initiatives have a coherent operating model, realistic resourcing, visible risks, and disciplined follow-through from kickoff through completion.

The ideal candidate combines deep program ownership with calm judgment, crisp communication, and respect for creative craft. You can turn ambiguity into practical operating plans, hold senior stakeholders accountable with tact, anticipate risks and resource conflicts, and build lightweight systems that help teams produce better work faster.

In this role, you will:

• Own end-to-end program execution for integrated Hardware marketing initiatives across campaigns, launches, brand, content, social, digital, experiential, OOH, growth, and e-commerce.
• Partner with Brand Marketing to translate approved strategy, GTM priorities, and success measures into clear program roadmaps with milestones, ownership, dependencies, and escalation paths.
• Build and maintain the program plans, workbacks, operating models, and tracking systems that give teams clear visibility into priorities, progress, resources, risks, and decisions.
• Lead the program operating rhythm across kickoffs, status updates, creative reviews, leadership forums, and follow-through, ensuring decisions are made, documented, and translated into action.
• Partner with creative and production leads to protect the creative process while keeping development, reviews, production requirements, budgets, and delivery milestones connected to the broader program plan.
• Coordinate cross-functional execution across marketing, creative, production, agencies, legal, policy, media, regional teams, and other partners, keeping dependencies, approvals, and handoffs on track.
• Partner with Creative Operations and Resource Management to forecast capacity and resource needs, maintain accurate allocation views, and address gaps before they become delivery risks.
• Anticipate and surface blockers, resource constraints, timeline pressure, budget implications, and dependency conflicts early, escalating with clear options and recommendations when needed.
• Maintain horizontal visibility across active work so teams and leadership have a clear view of program health, priorities, risks, decisions, resources, and next steps.
• Own launch readiness, ensuring critical creative, production, localization, review, and stakeholder dependencies are aligned and on track for delivery.
• Drive program closeout, capturing outcomes, open actions, learnings, and process improvements that strengthen future programs.
• Build lightweight, scalable ways of working that improve visibility, prioritization, resourcing, and delivery without adding unnecessary process.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in program management, creative operations, agency operations, marketing operations, production-adjacent program management, or integrated creative delivery.
• Experience managing complex creative or marketing programs spanning campaigns, launches, content, social, digital, experiential, OOH, or brand work.
• Understanding of how strategic work moves from goals and planning through creative development, production, and launch—and where complex programs typically get stuck.
• Highly organized and able to turn ambiguity into a practical program roadmap without overcomplicating the process.
• Clear and diplomatic communication skills with senior creatives, marketers, producers, agencies, legal partners, regional teams, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Comfortable creating accountability across teams with tact, precision, and momentum.
• Strong instincts for operating cadence, decision-making, resource planning, status reporting, action follow-through, and risk escalation.
• Ability to distinguish between marketing strategy, creative judgment, production craft, resource management, and program management ownership.
• Fluency in budget and resourcing to understand scopes, SOWs, POs, agency fees, production dependencies, capacity constraints, staffing gaps, and delivery tradeoffs.
• Familiarity with tools creative teams use to work, including Google Workspace, Slack, Figma, Airtable, Monday.com, Asana, or similar project and resource management systems.
• Operate with strong discretion around sensitive launches, staffing, budgets, campaign strategy, partner details, and leadership priorities.
• Genuine interest in technology, creative craft, international marketing, and the transformative potential of AI.

Company Description

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.