Corporate Development, Deal Lead

The Corporate Development Deal Lead will own high-priority M&A and strategic transaction work from early evaluation through diligence, structuring, negotiation, approval, and close. This person will translate strategic priorities and market insight into actionable deal opportunities, build the business case for transactions, and drive cross-functional alignment with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end execution of corporate development transactions (e.g., acquisitions and strategic investments), including sourcing, diligence, valuation, structuring, negotiation, and closing; Track and interpret key trends across AI, technology, and adjacent industries, translating the competitive and startup landscape into clear, high-impact insights for OpenAI's leadership; Proactively source acquisition and other opportunities by building deep relationships across the venture, startup, and incubator ecosystem; Partner closely with internal leaders to understand OpenAI's priorities and use external market intelligence to help shape strategy and identify where inorganic moves can accelerate it; Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Legal, Finance, GTM, and executive leadership to evaluate and advance deals; Build financial models, commercial cases, and decision-making frameworks for executive stakeholders; Prepare and present deal materials to senior leaders; Lead and innovate how we use AI to enhance Corp Dev processes and systems; Partner with Integration & cross-functional peers to develop deal goals / metrics and integration plans to achieve and measure outcomes

Requirements

12+ years of experience leading M&A or strategic transactions from start to finish - in corporate development, private equity, investment banking, venture investing, and/or product; Deep experience analyzing emerging technologies and markets, and enjoy working directly with founders, investors, and operators; A genuine passion for AI and its impact on the world; Strong analytical skills combined with commercial judgment and strategic insight; Comfort managing ambiguity, building process in a fast-moving environment, and operating with high ownership; Clear and persuasive communication skills to influence internal and external stakeholders; Excitement to help build and shape the Corp Dev function at a mission-driven AI company

Nice to have

Sector and deal expertise in enterprise / B2B highly preferred

Benefits

Relocation assistance