Program Manager, Critical Harm Operations
Compensation The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The salary range for this position is $252K – $280K, with generous equity, performance-related bonuses, and the following benefits: 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), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks) Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law) Mental health and wellness support Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible Relocation support for eligible employees Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided. ABOUT THE TEAM Critical Harm Operations sits within User Safety & Risk Operations and builds enforcement systems for Frontier Risk and Material Harm that are accurate, fast, defensible, and built to scale. We turn policy intent into operational readiness, review standards, quality systems, escalation paths, automation guardrails, and durable cross-functional operating models. ABOUT THE ROLE We are looking for an exceptional Program Manager to help build durable operating systems and run some of OpenAI’s most complex safety operations. The core need is a high-agency operator who can take an ambiguous problem, create the right structure, align cross-functional partners, and drive the work through execution. This role will move across Critical Harm priorities as needs evolve. You may step into operationalizing national security or violent-activities workflows, support wellbeing and Frontier Risk initiatives, or help scale programs such as Trusted Access. Deep domain expertise is helpful but not required; the strongest candidates will learn quickly, exercise excellent judgment, and make complex programs move. IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL: Lead strategic operational builds across priority workflows from problem statement to implemented operating model, including scope, owners, milestones, risks, success measures, and execution cadence. Translate policy, safety, technical, legal, and operational constraints into workflows, requirements, playbooks, escalation paths, and decision-making structures that teams can execute. Coordinate with User Ops leadership, Product Policy, Integrity, Safety Systems, i2, Legal, Product, Engineering, Support, vendors, and other partners to resolve dependencies and keep critical work moving. Move in and out of workflows as priorities shift,standing up new programs, stabilizing operations, improving handoffs, and transitioning durable ownership to the right team. Use operational data and frontline signals to identify bottlenecks, quality gaps, capacity needs, ownership failures, and the highest-leverage interventions. Drive high-priority escalations and cross-functional decisions to closure, ensuring the right context, accountable owners, clear next steps, and durable follow-up. Create the mechanisms that make programs run well: roadmaps, decision logs, status updates, risk registers, operating reviews, and crisp executive communication. Identify where AI tools, automation, lightweight systems, or simpler workflows can improve speed, consistency, and scale while preserving appropriate human judgment. YOU MIGHT THRIVE IN THIS ROLE IF YOU: Have 8+ years of experience in program management, strategy and operations, product operations, technical program management, trust and safety, support operations, risk operations, implementation, or a related field. Have a track record of taking complex, ambiguous work from problem framing through launch and scaled operation. Are unusually organized, sharp, and execution-focused; you can manage many moving pieces without losing the few decisions that matter most. Build trust and drive alignment across teams without direct authority, while keeping ownership, accountability, and escalation paths clear. Are technically and analytically fluent enough to reason about data flows, dashboards, tooling gaps, automation, and failure modes,even if you are not writing production code. Communicate clearly with technical, operational, policy, and executive audiences, especially when tradeoffs are sensitive or evidence is incomplete. Operate calmly and flexibly in a fast-moving environment, learn new domains quickly, and are comfortable handling high-severity or sensitive work. Experience with vendor operations, QA programs, launch readiness, workflow automation, or AI-assisted operations. NICE TO HAVE Experience in customer support or other high-stakes scaled operations. Deep expertise with national security, violence or other severe-harm domains.