Head of EMEA, Global Affairs

About the Team:

OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. Achieving this goal requires more than cutting-edge research—it demands deep, ongoing engagement with the policymakers, communities, and institutions shaping the future of AI.

The Global Affairs team leads this engagement. We cultivate authentic, collaborative relationships with public officials, regulators, multilateral bodies, civil society leaders, and the broader AI policymaking community to ensure that diverse perspectives inform our work. By bringing external insights into OpenAI and sharing our own learnings transparently, we help advance thoughtful regulation, responsible industry standards, and governance frameworks that promote the safe and beneficial development of AI technologies.

In close partnership with our research, product, and policy colleagues, we work across regions to anticipate emerging issues, craft forward-looking strategies, and champion policies that align technological progress with human values. Our mission is to help shape the global conversation on AI and ensure that the benefits of this transformative technology reach people everywhere.

About the Role:

OpenAI is seeking a visionary and highly accomplished leader to serve as our Head of EMEA, Global Affairs. In this role, you will lead a team of public policy professionals to drive OpenAI’s policy engagements across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. You will shape regional campaigns, partnerships, and high-level government engagement to advance OpenAI’s mission while navigating complex regulatory environments. Reporting to the VP of Global Affairs and serving on the EMEA regional leadership team, you will initiate cross-functional initiatives and act as a trusted advisor to OpenAI’s global leadership. This role includes representing OpenAI at the highest political levels, shaping AI policy debates and outcomes, and partnering with governments on initiatives that align AI with democratic values. As Head of EMEA, you will play a defining role in ensuring AI is deployed responsibly and inclusively, helping billions of people benefit from the Intelligence Age.

In this role, you will:

• Strategy & leadership: Set and execute the EMEA Global Affairs strategy, ensuring alignment with global priorities while serving on the regional leadership team.
• Team management: Lead and develop a high-performing team of senior policy professionals across multiple countries, fostering inclusivity, growth, and integrity.
• Policy & government engagement: Cultivate relationships with heads of state, ministers, regulators, and multilateral institutions; anticipate and shape legislative and regulatory trends; advise executives on political risk and policy positioning.
• Partnerships & campaigns: Design and execute multi-country campaigns and partnerships with governments, universities, industry, and civil society; support programs such as OpenAI for Countries and emerging infrastructure projects.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with research, engineering, product, legal, communications, finance, and commercial teams to align policy strategies with technical roadmaps and business objectives.
• Representation: Represent OpenAI externally at summits, conferences, and bilateral meetings; serve as a visible advocate for AI’s societal benefits and risks.

You’ll thrive in this role if you:

• Are a seasoned leader at the intersection of technology and public policy, comfortable working in ambiguous and rapidly evolving environments.
• Inspire and develop diverse teams, empowering colleagues to excel while maintaining accountability and high ethical standards.
• Enjoy building coalitions and thrive both independently and as part of a high-performing, peer-led global team.
• Are a strong communicator and public advocate who can translate complex technical and policy concepts into compelling narratives for diverse audiences.
• Embrace cross-functional collaboration and can unify technical, legal, commercial, and operational stakeholders around a shared mission

We’re looking for a blend of:

• 15+ years of experience in government, international affairs, technology policy, corporate diplomacy, or a related field, including senior leadership roles.
• Established credibility and relationships with EU institutions and regulators, national governments, and other EMEA policymakers.
• Proven ability to lead high-stakes policy campaigns, shape legislation or regulation, and build partnerships across multiple countries.
• Demonstrated success managing and developing teams across diverse cultural contexts.
• Deep knowledge of EMEA political and regulatory ecosystems, with a strong grasp of AI-related issues such as safety, privacy, competition, and infrastructure.
• Exceptional judgment, integrity, and political instincts with a proven ability to build consensus across diverse stakeholders, advance bold ideas, and deliver results in fast-moving, dynamic environments.
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills with a track record of influencing senior stakeholders.
• Experience working across functions (e.g., legal, research, communications, commercial) to develop coordinated strategies and deliver results.

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.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. 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.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.