About this role
About the Team
OpenAI's mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. The U.S. Policy and Partnerships team sits within Global Affairs and helps translate that mission into trusted, practical engagement with civil society, community leaders, researchers, and other external stakeholders across the United States.
Our current operating model is built around disciplined, cross-functional campaigns: moving from abstract persuasion to local proof, pairing policy expertise with real-world use cases, and working with trusted validators who can help communities understand, shape, and benefit from AI. The team works closely with colleagues across Global Affairs, Legal, Safety, Communications, Product, Research, and other functions to build relationships that are substantive, durable, and grounded in two-way learning.
About the Role
As U.S. External Affairs Associate, you will work with the team leads to help advance OpenAI's engagement with civil rights organizations, civil society groups, researchers, community-based organizations, and other external stakeholders shaping the AI policy debate in the United States.
This role is central to the team's partnership and outreach operating model. You will help identify priority stakeholders, design engagement strategies, and build the external relationships and feedback loops. The work is not about one-way education; it is about co-design, listening, product and policy learning, and creating concrete proof points that can strengthen public trust.
Reporting to the External Affairs Lead, you will work across the U.S. Policy and Partnerships team and in close coordination with State and Local Policy, Federal Affairs, Communications, Safety, Legal, Product, and Research. OpenAI is evolving quickly as we release new research, products, and tools. Day-to-day work may include representing OpenAI at convenings, designing a stakeholder strategy around a fast-moving policy issue, organizing partner briefings, preparing product and policy explainers, supporting local proof-point campaigns, coordinating quarterly partner reviews, or translating feedback from civil society into actionable insights for internal teams.
This role is based in Washington, DC and may require frequent travel to meet with key stakeholders. We offer relocation assistance to new employees.
In This Role, You Will
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with civil rights, civil society, research, community, labor, education, accessibility and other stakeholder organizations relevant to OpenAI's U.S. policy priorities.
- Help execute a repeatable engagement operating model grounded in co-design, localized benefits, trusted validators, cross-functional planning, and regular partner reviews.
- Develop stakeholder maps, engagement plans, briefing materials, and follow-up systems for priority policy campaigns and rapid-response moments.
- Support federal and state engagement strategies by identifying cr