Clean Energy and New Technology Lead — OpenAI

OpenAI · Seattle | San Francisco · Hybrid

Type: Full-time
Salary: USD 223,000 – 385,000/yr
Posted: 4 weeks ago
Closes: Nov 18, 2026

Job Description

OpenAI is hiring a Clean Energy and New Technology Lead to shape energy strategy for its growing AI infrastructure footprint.

The role focuses on clean power, emerging energy technologies, resilience, and practical deployment. It suits a senior energy or infrastructure professional who can connect technical analysis with commercial, regulatory, and operational decisions.

The position is remote within the US or based in Seattle or San Francisco.

About the Role

This role sits within OpenAI's Industrial Compute organization. The successful candidate will help determine how new energy technologies can support large-scale infrastructure growth.

Much of the work involves assessing technologies, developing pilot opportunities, and turning promising concepts into viable deployment plans. The role also connects engineering, procurement, policy, finance, legal, regulatory, and site-readiness considerations.

This is initially an individual contributor position with no direct reports. It requires someone comfortable influencing senior stakeholders without relying on formal management authority.

Key Responsibilities

Assess emerging energy technologies for large-scale infrastructure applications.
Explore clean firm power, advanced storage, grid flexibility, and low-carbon backup options.
Identify suitable technologies for pilots and potential commercial deployment.
Compare solutions across reliability, cost, carbon impact, schedule, regulation, and operations.
Work with engineering, procurement, finance, legal, policy, regulatory, and deployment teams.
Monitor developments across energy markets, utilities, technology, and regulation.
Develop repeatable frameworks for evaluating sustainability and emerging-energy initiatives.
Create practical execution approaches that can support future infrastructure projects.

Who This Job Is For

This position is aimed at an established energy or infrastructure professional with substantial experience in complex deployments. Relevant backgrounds may include clean-energy procurement, power markets, infrastructure sustainability, utility programs, data-center energy strategy, or related fields.

Candidates should understand power systems, grid constraints, low-carbon energy, and infrastructure reliability. Experience evaluating emerging technologies or moving pilot projects toward commercial implementation is particularly relevant.

The role may also suit professionals who have worked across technical, commercial, regulatory, and executive environments. The 15+ year experience requirement makes this a senior-level opportunity rather than an early-career energy position.

Requirements

Essential

15+ years of relevant professional experience.
Experience in energy technology, infrastructure sustainability, clean-energy procurement, power markets, utility programs, data-center energy strategy, or a related area.
Strong understanding of power systems and low-carbon energy.
Knowledge of grid constraints and infrastructure reliability.
Experience evaluating emerging technologies or developing pilots.
Ability to assess sustainability alongside cost, reliability, schedule, regulatory, and operational factors.
Strong cross-functional leadership skills.
Excellent analytical and written communication abilities.
Ability to communicate complex issues clearly to executive stakeholders.

Preferred

OpenAI does not provide a separate list of preferred qualifications in the supplied vacancy. Candidates should therefore avoid treating additional credentials or technologies as mandatory unless confirmed through the official posting.

Compensation and Benefits

Base compensation: $223,000–$385,000
Equity: Offered

The supplied vacancy does not provide a complete benefits breakdown. Candidates should review the official posting for the latest employment and benefits information.

Location and Work Arrangement

Location: United States
Work arrangement: Remote, Seattle, or San Francisco

The vacancy specifies US-based locations. Candidates outside the United States should confirm eligibility before applying. Remote work does not necessarily mean the position is available internationally.

Why This Opportunity May Be Worth Considering

The role combines energy strategy with the infrastructure requirements of large-scale AI deployment. It also provides exposure to emerging technologies that could affect power reliability, cost, emissions, and infrastructure resilience.

For experienced energy professionals, the position offers a cross-functional scope spanning technology, infrastructure, regulation, commercial considerations, and operational execution.

What to Check Before Applying

Before submitting an application, verify:

Whether your experience meets the 15+ year requirement.
Whether your background demonstrates large-scale energy or infrastructure work.
Your understanding of power systems and grid constraints.
Evidence of evaluating or deploying emerging technologies.
Your ability to work across technical, commercial, policy, and executive groups.
US location and work-eligibility requirements.
The latest compensation and employment information.
Any application requirements listed on the official careers page.

How to Apply

Applications should be submitted through OpenAI's official careers page.

Apply: OpenAI — Clean Energy and New Technology Lead

Application deadline: Not specified by the employer. Candidates should check the official OpenAI careers page for current availability.

AscendurePro is not the recruiter or hiring organization for this position.

About the Employer

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research and deployment company. Its work includes developing and deploying AI systems and products, with a stated focus on ensuring that advanced AI benefits humanity.

Candidates should use OpenAI's official careers information for current employer policies, application requirements, and employment terms.

Before you apply:

Match your CV against the stated experience requirements.
Highlight energy, infrastructure, power-market, or sustainability projects.
Quantify the scale and outcomes of major initiatives where possible.
Show experience balancing technical and commercial constraints.
Highlight work involving utilities, regulators, procurement, engineering, or infrastructure teams.
Demonstrate experience taking emerging technologies from evaluation toward deployment.
Keep executive communication and analytical achievements prominent.

CV focus: Emphasize large-scale infrastructure decisions, clean-energy strategy, technology evaluation, regulatory engagement, and measurable deployment outcomes. For a senior role, evidence of influence across multiple functions can be particularly important.

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Likely Interview Questions

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LIKELY QUESTIONS

- How would you build an energy strategy for rapidly growing AI compute infrastructure where load forecasts, sites, and deployment timelines may evolve quickly?
- How do you evaluate clean firm power options such as advanced nuclear, geothermal, long-duration storage, clean fuels, and hybrid renewable portfolios for data center applications?
- Describe the decision framework you would use to compare an emerging energy technology across cost, reliability, carbon impact, schedule, permitting, interconnection, and operational complexity.
- How would you identify and structure a pilot for a promising but not yet fully bankable energy technology?
- What are the most consequential grid constraints facing large-scale data center deployment today, and how would you mitigate them?
- How would you balance OpenAI's need for near-term reliable capacity with longer-term decarbonization and technology-development goals?
- Tell us how you would influence engineering, procurement, finance, legal, policy, and deployment teams when their priorities conflict.
- What metrics, governance mechanisms, and executive decision materials would you establish to manage a portfolio of energy technology opportunities?

BEHAVIOURAL QUESTIONS

- Tell me about a time you moved an emerging energy technology from initial assessment toward a real-world pilot or commercial deployment.
Model approach: Situation: Briefly define the infrastructure need, technology maturity, and key uncertainty. Task: State your responsibility for creating a viable path forward. Action: Explain how you built the technical-commercial case, engaged developers and internal teams, addressed permitting/interconnection/contracting risks, and set pilot success criteria. Result: Quantify the outcome, such as pilot approval, cost reduction, risk retired, capacity secured, or a repeatable deployment playbook.

- Describe a time you had to make a recommendation despite incomplete technical, market, or regulatory information.
Model approach: Situation: Identify the high-stakes decision and the uncertain inputs. Task: Explain the decision required and timeline. Action: Describe your scenario analysis, assumptions, downside cases, expert validation, and recommendation with decision gates. Result: Show the quality of the decision, risk avoided, capital protected, or speed gained; close with what you changed in the process afterward.

- Tell me about a time you aligned stakeholders with competing objectives without having direct authority over them.
Model approach: Situation: Describe the stakeholders and their conflicting goals, such as reliability, budget, sustainability, legal risk, or delivery schedule. Task: State the outcome you needed to achieve. Action: Explain how you surfaced tradeoffs, created a shared fact base, tailored communication for each audience, and escalated only where necessary. Result: Demonstrate alignment, a timely decision, improved partnership, or successful execution.

- Give an example of a major infrastructure or energy risk you identified early and mitigated.
Model approach: Situation: Define the project, load growth, site, or procurement context. Task: Explain your accountability for identifying and reducing risk. Action: Detail the analyses used, such as utility engagement, transmission/interconnection review, supply-chain assessment, regulatory diligence, or reliability modeling; explain the mitigation plan and owners. Result: Quantify schedule protected, costs avoided, reliability improved, or alternative capacity secured.

SMART QUESTIONS TO ASK

- What are the most pressing energy constraints limiting Industrial Compute growth today: available generation, transmission, interconnection timelines, local permitting, fuel supply, or something else?
- How does OpenAI define success for this role over the first 12 to 18 months: pilot launches, capacity secured, framework development, risk reduction, or influence on site-selection decisions?
- Which energy technology categories are already active priorities, and where is the company still seeking a point of view rather than executing an established strategy?
- How are energy decisions governed across Industrial Compute, engineering, finance, procurement, policy, legal, and external infrastructure partners?
- What level of appetite does OpenAI have for first-of-a-kind or early-commercial projects, and what evidence would be required to move from a pilot to scaled deployment?

RED FLAGS TO WATCH FOR

- The company cannot clearly articulate who owns final energy-investment decisions, how cross-functional conflicts are resolved, or whether this role has access to decision-makers.
- Expectations imply that one individual can secure near-term clean, firm power capacity while simultaneously solving utility, transmission, permitting, technology, and commercial constraints without sufficient internal resources or executive sponsorship.
- Leaders describe ambitious sustainability or resilience goals but cannot identify decision criteria, budget ownership, acceptable risk levels, or how reliability and deployment speed are prioritized when tradeoffs arise.

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Adjacent Career Paths

Roles you'd also qualify for based on this posting's requirements:

Director of Energy Strategy — Leads enterprise energy planning across clean power, reliability, markets, and infrastructure growth.
Data Center Energy and Sustainability Director — Applies power-system and clean-energy expertise to large-scale data center deployment needs.
Clean Energy Procurement and Power Markets Lead — Combines commercial energy sourcing, grid knowledge, and low-carbon procurement strategy.
Emerging Energy Technology Commercialization Lead — Evaluates new energy technologies and advances pilots into practical commercial deployments.