Technical Deployment Lead, Life Sciences

About the Role

The role is based in San Francisco, with a hybrid work model that includes 3 days in the office per week. Travel up to 50% is required, and relocation assistance is offered. As a Technical Deployment Lead, you will be working closely with cross-functional teams, including FDEs, Researchers, and Customer Engineers, to ensure the successful deployment of AI solutions.

The Life Sciences vertical is a key area of focus for OpenAI, with partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, clinical research organizations, and other data and services providers. The goal is to deploy next-generation AI capabilities across drug discovery, development, and operations, driving measurable value against customer goals and adoption.

What You Will Do

• Own the technical delivery plan for multiple interdependent workstreams, translating business objectives into a roadmap with milestones, dependencies, and acceptance criteria.
• Run day-to-day engineering execution, tracking and driving delivery across OpenAI FDE and customer teams, and making real-time trade-offs on scope and priority to protect the critical path.
• Embed with customer teams to land production deployments and drive adoption, mapping workflows, shaping tools/integrations, and translating requirements into a delivery plan.
• Partner with Product and Research to ensure platform components and research workstreams land in time to support deployment goals.
• Codify solution patterns and evaluations, extracting reusable patterns and packaging field signals to improve product and models.
• Own value cases and ROI, setting impact hypotheses, baselines, and KPIs, and running pre-/post-deployment measurement and reporting to exec sponsors.
• Shape how OpenAI engages with Life Sciences customers, driving adoption and reliability.
• Track progress, manage dependencies, and make sequencing decisions to drive 0→1 prototypes through MVP and scale.
• Share field insights with Product and Research to guide roadmap and priorities.

What We Are Looking For

• 7+ years of customer-facing technical delivery leadership experience in the Life Sciences industry or a related field.
• Expertise in Life Sciences, with a deep understanding of the industry's workflows, challenges, and opportunities.
• A track record of successfully leading large, complex, high-stakes customer engagements where customer outcomes depended on tight coordination and fast decision-making.
• Excellent technical project management skills, with the ability to simplify complex and dynamic work.
• Strong strategic thinking and pattern-matching skills, with the ability to step back from execution detail and recognize broader trends across deployments.
• Ability to move fluidly between system-level understanding and execution-level detail, with the ability to dive into customer workflows and data.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to partner with cross-functional teams and customer stakeholders.
• Strong judgment and decision-making skills, with the ability to make real-time trade-offs on scope and priority.
• Experience with AI solutions and their application in the Life Sciences industry is highly desirable.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Excel and other data analysis tools.
• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies and DevOps practices.
• Knowledge of cloud-based technologies and their application in the Life Sciences industry.
• Experience with customer-facing technical delivery in a related industry, such as healthcare or biotechnology.

Benefits and Perks

• Competitive salary and equity package.
• Opportunity to work with a cutting-edge AI company and contribute to the development of next-generation AI solutions.
• Collaborative and dynamic work environment with a team of experienced professionals.
• Flexible work arrangements, including a hybrid work model and relocation assistance.
• Professional development opportunities, including training and education programs.
• Access to the latest technologies and tools, including cloud-based platforms and data analysis software.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement savings, and paid time off.

• Develop a strong understanding of the Life Sciences industry and its workflows, challenges, and opportunities to increase your chances of success in this role.
• Highlight your experience with customer-facing technical delivery and your ability to partner with cross-functional teams and customer stakeholders.
• Showcase your technical project management skills and your ability to simplify complex and dynamic work.
• Emphasize your strategic thinking and pattern-matching skills, and your ability to recognize broader trends across deployments.
• Prepare to discuss your experience with AI solutions and their application in the Life Sciences industry, and be ready to provide examples of your work.
• Research OpenAI's culture and values, and be prepared to discuss how you align with them.
• Be prepared to provide specific examples of your experience and skills, and to discuss your approach to complex problem-solving and decision-making.