Manager, Applied AI Engineering (Digital Natives)

About the Position

We are seeking a Manager, Applied AI Engineering (Digital Natives) to lead the team responsible for the technical success of our most strategic technology and software customers in the Americas.

Locations

• San Francisco
• Mountain View
• New York City
• Seattle

Employment Type

Full time

Location Type

Hybrid

Compensation

• Base Salary: $302K – $335K
• Equity: Included
• Benefits:
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses
  • 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
  • Paid parental leave
  • Paid time off
  • Paid holidays and company closures
  • Mental health and wellness support
  • Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
  • Annual learning and development stipend
  • Daily meals in offices and meal delivery credits
  • Relocation support
  • Additional taxable fringe benefits

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy and operating model for the Digital Natives Applied AI Engineering team.
• Lead, hire, mentor, and develop a team of high-performing Applied AI Engineers.
• Guide the team in working hands-on with customers to identify high-impact use cases, design and build AI applications, solve technical challenges, and scale successful solutions into production.
• Partner closely with Sales to prioritize technical engagement across strategic customers.
• Serve as a senior technical partner and escalation point for priority customers.
• Represent the technical voice of Digital Native customers by synthesizing insights for Product, Engineering, and Research.
• Translate recurring customer needs into repeatable technical patterns and best practices.
• Coach Applied AI Engineers on technical quality, customer judgment, prioritization, executive communication, and cross-functional partnership.
• Help customers understand and apply OpenAI’s newest capabilities.
• Champion the safe, reliable, and effective application of OpenAI’s technology across the Digital Natives ecosystem.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in deeply technical, customer-facing roles.
• 2+ years of experience leading technical teams.
• Experience building or deploying generative AI, machine learning, developer platforms, or cloud-based software solutions.
• Strong technical depth across APIs, AI/ML systems, application architecture, cloud infrastructure, and modern developer workflows.
• Hands-on software engineering experience and fluency with programming languages such as Python or JavaScript.
• Comfortable working directly with highly technical engineering and product teams as well as CTOs and other executive stakeholders.
• Ability to translate ambiguous customer and business problems into clear technical approaches.
• Strong judgment about when to invest deeply in an individual customer challenge versus when to develop a repeatable solution for the broader segment.
• Effective communicator who can translate complex technical and business topics across audiences.
• Thrive in ambiguous, fast-moving environments and are energized by working with customers at the forefront of AI adoption.
• Demonstrate strong ownership, humility, curiosity, and a commitment to helping both customers and teammates succeed.
• Personally committed to fostering the safe and beneficial development of AI.

We Offer

• Competitive salary
• Equity
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Professional growth opportunities
• Collaborative and innovative work environment

About the Company

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. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our workplace.