Account Director, State and Local Government

About the teamOpenAI’s mission is to build safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) that benefits all of humanity. This long-term undertaking brings the world’s best scientists, engineers, and business professionals together in one organization to accomplish this.In pursuit of this mission, our OpenAI for Government team helps customers understand how to leverage and deploy our highly capable AI products across their organizations. The team comprises Sales, Solutions, Support, Marketing, and Partnerships professionals who collaborate to create valuable solutions and bring AI to as many users as possible.About the roleOur OpenAI for Government team has a unique mission to help government customers understand the transformative impact that highly capable AI models can have on their agencies and missions. This role combines technical understanding, strategic vision, partnership management, and a value-driven approach tailored to state and local government customers.This Account Director will own a portfolio of strategic state and local government accounts. The ideal candidate brings deep knowledge of the state and local government landscape, established relationships with government leaders, and a track record of driving technology adoption within complex public sector organizations.You’ll lead key opportunities through the entire sales cycle, from pipeline development through close. You’ll collaborate closely with researchers, engineers, and solution strategists to help government customers advance their missions through AI.This role requires regular travel to engage customers, partners, and industry stakeholders.This role is based in Washington, DC, or San Francisco. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.In this role, you'll:Manage a focused set of key accounts, developing and executing comprehensive account plansLead state and local government customers through their AI adoption journeys, from initial consideration through successful deploymentPartner with Solutions and Research Engineering to build and execute complex customer programs and projectsOwn and manage a consumption revenue targetOversee consumption revenue forecasting and reportingAnalyze key account metrics and provide insights to internal and external stakeholdersClosely monitor the state and local government landscape—including agencies, policies, competitors, and partners—to inform product roadmaps and corporate strategiesBuild and maintain executive relationships with state CIOs, agency leaders, innovation offices, procurement stakeholders, and other senior public sector decision-makersCollaborate cross-functionally with Solutions, Marketing, Communications, Business Operations, People Operations, Finance, Product Management, and EngineeringSupport the recruitment and onboarding of team members focused on state and local governmentFoster the development of our company culture within the state and local government practiceWe're seeking someone with experience including:Bringing 10+ years of experience selling enterprise technology solutions to state and local government customers or leading digital transformation, AI adoption, enterprise technology modernization, innovation initiatives, or large-scale technology deployments from within state or local government organizationsConsistently achieving annual state and local government revenue targets exceeding $2 million over multiple yearsDesigning and executing complex deal strategies, including navigating state procurement processes, cooperative purchasing vehicles, requests for proposals, and government contracting mechanismsSupporting growth in fast-paced, high-performance environmentsWorking directly with senior government executives and agency leadersCommunicating technical and strategic concepts clearly to government customers and internal stakeholdersLeading high-visibility customer events, executive briefings, and industry engagementsGathering, distilling, and applying detailed market intelligence, including agency priorities, policy changes, and competitor activitySelling to large state agencies, cities, counties, public safety organizations, transportation agencies, or other complex state and local government organizationsBuilding strong relationships across government ecosystems, including with government leaders, technology stakeholders, and partner communitiesYou might thrive in this role if you:Thrive in a startup environment. You can operate at a highly strategic level while remaining willing to roll up your sleeves and execute tactically as an account lead.Are a strategist. You deeply understand go-to-market best practices and continually raise the bar for the organization. You think and plan across a multiyear horizon and bring internal and external stakeholders along with your strategy.Are customer-centric. You are motivated to understand customers’ priorities and help them achieve mission-critical objectives using AI. You build trusted relationships with government executives and stakeholders across agencies.Have a passion for or deep curiosity about artificial intelligence. You embrace the opportunity to help deploy OpenAI’s technology in ways that benefit government missions and humanity. You’re enthusiastic about educating customers on AI capabilities and their strategic implications.Are a builder. You enjoy shaping how our company grows its state and local government business. You excel at establishing robust systems and processes tailored to government requirements and executing them with precision and agility.Are excited by new challenges. You thrive when solving complex government-specific problems. Bespoke challenges requiring multidimensional knowledge excite you, and you’re eager to experiment with innovative solutions in government environments.Push the organization forward. You proactively contribute to strategic initiatives and help advance our state and local government go-to-market approach. You plan years ahead, effectively aligning internal stakeholders and external government partners to achieve long-term objectives.About OpenAIOpenAI 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