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Senior Counsel, Public Sector

Compensation
$297,000–$330,000/year

Job Description

About the Role

We’re seeking a lawyer to support our growing OpenAI for Government business, including compliance and contracting issues related to our government business line. This role will support a wide range of issues relating to the sale of information technology services to governments, including matters related to facilities clearance and security compliance requirements, transactions and contract management, bid protests, contract performance, pre/post strategy, systems building, claims and disputes, compliance management, etc. This person needs to be a do-er who can jump between issues in a broad portfolio.

Role and Responsibilities

  • This counsel will be dedicated to supporting legal issues related to our OpenAI for Government business line, supporting US federal, state and local government, and international sales.

  • Work collaboratively with subject matter experts across the legal team on cutting-edge issue relating to artificial intelligence products.

  • Scale legal support through innovative application of AI tools and other automation mechanisms.

  • Areas of responsibility will include:

    • Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Compliance

    • Contract Review and Negotiation

    • Bid Protests and Claims Management

    • Ethics and Compliance tailored to federal contracting

    • Data Privacy and Security Compliance, including security requirements such as NIST 800-171, CMMC, or FISMA

    • Lobbying and government affairs restrictions

    • False Claims Act (FCA) Risk Management

    • Supply Chain Management and Flow-Down Requirements

    • Audits and Reporting Obligations

Skills & Experience

  • 10+ years experience.

  • In-house experience at a technology company that does significant business with the government.

  • Experience negotiating complex technology transactions with government customers, including federal, state and local, and international customers

  • Broad knowledge of government procurement regimes, including FAR and federal contracting.

  • Experience advising on government contracting compliance issues.

  • Experience scaling legal support through automation, particularly using AI tools.

About OpenAI

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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

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Job Details

Department
G&A
Category
Legal & Compliance
Employment Type
Contract
Location
Washington, DC (Remote Available)
Posted
May 11, 2026, 04:10 PM
Listed
May 11, 2026, 04:42 PM
Compensation
$297,000 - $330,000 per year

About OpenAI

Part of the growing frontier tech ecosystem pushing the edges of what's possible.

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Senior Counsel, Public Sector
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