Research Program Manager, Safety Systems

OpenAI

. Lead programs developing and improving safeguards used across OpenAI’s models and products .

Posted 10/30/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $239,000 - $328,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in technical safety work, particularly in AI safety concepts, risk assessment, and program management. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and translate complex safety research into actionable safeguards across models and products.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Technical Safety WorkAI Safety ConceptsRisk AssessmentProgram ManagementCross-Functional Team Leadership

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Capability EvaluationsAlignmentControlMonitoringSafeguard RobustnessRemediation TestingAdversarial TestingSafety Program DevelopmentEvidence AssessmentTechnical Program Ownership

Soft Skills

Clear CommunicationSound JudgmentMotivation to Ensure SafetyAbility to Make TradeoffsCollaboration with Policy Partners

Tools & Technologies

Safety Assessment ReportsSystem CardsFeedback WorkflowsQuality Assurance ToolsShared Tooling

Industry Keywords

AICybersecurityBiosafetyModel DevelopmentSafety Programs

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cyber Security

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead programs developing and improving safeguards used across OpenAI’s models and products
Assess and mitigate risks associated with frontier capabilities, launches, and trusted-access programs
Partner with researchers, engineers, and stakeholders to turn open safety questions into programs of work
Shape technical roadmaps, coordinate execution, and use evidence to guide priorities and development and deployment decisions
Define goals, milestones, dependencies, and success criteria for safety programs
Prioritize intake and emerging findings, resolve blockers, and balance immediate safety needs with longer-term investments
Translate safety research into safeguards across models and products
Maintain an end-to-end view of safeguard coverage, effectiveness, and improvement opportunities
Organize capability evaluations, alignment and control assessments, adversarial testing, and safeguard stress-testing
Support embedded assessments throughout model development, internal use, and deployment
Coordinate safety requirements and execution across frontier model launches and deployments
Define assessment scope and evidence needed for safety and access decisions
Triage safeguard gaps, jailbreaks, and overflagging; establish owners and escalation paths
Track remediation and regression testing and turn recurring issues into research and engineering improvements
Support safety cases connecting claims to evaluations, safeguards, assumptions, and remaining uncertainty
Surface evidence gaps and unresolved risks and communicate methods, results, limitations, and follow-up actions through assessment reports, system cards, and updates
Coordinate shared tooling and feedback workflows, privacy and security requirements, safeguard user experience, and quality assurance
Help teams apply safeguards consistently across product surfaces and upcoming launches

Requirements

What you’ll need

5+ years of experience in technical safety work, owning technical programs, or related roles in fast-moving environments
Experience leading complex research or technical programs involving researchers and engineers, particularly in AI, cybersecurity, biosafety, or another field where failures can have serious consequences
Understanding of frontier AI safety concepts, including capability evaluations, alignment, control, monitoring, and safeguard robustness
Ability to assess what evaluation results do and do not establish, including methodological limitations and uncertainty
Ability to distinguish model capability from real-world risk
Ability to turn ambiguous questions into clear programs, make practical tradeoffs, and adjust priorities as evidence changes
Extensive experience working across research, engineering, and product teams
Ability to coordinate with policy and communications partners
Sound judgment when findings are concerning or incomplete
Clear communication of complex technical work
Motivation to help ensure increasingly capable AI systems remain beneficial and under meaningful human control
Ability to work from the US office three days per week

Benefits

Comp & perks

Equity
Performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees
Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
401(k) retirement plan with employer match
Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents)
Paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
Flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
13+ paid company holidays
Multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year
Paid sick or safe time
Mental health and wellness support
Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
Annual learning and development stipend
Daily meals in offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
Relocation support for eligible employees
Charitable donation matching and wellness stipends may also be provided
Hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week