Infrastructure Finance Lead, Data Centers - job 1 of 2

About the Team

The Infrastructure Strategy team ensures OpenAI’s global compute footprint is financially sound, operationally scalable, and strategically positioned for the path to superintelligence. We work across engineering, strategy, operations, and finance to structure OpenAI’s infrastructure strategy and investments to scale compute.

About the Role

The Data Center Finance Lead will own the financial strategy, planning, and performance management for OpenAI’s rapidly expanding global data center portfolio. This role combines deep financial analysis with commercial execution—overseeing capex forecasting, cost tracking, and deal structuring for major data center investments, colocation agreements, and long-term infrastructure partnerships.

You’ll partner with cross-functional teams to evaluate trade-offs between build, lease, and cloud, set capital priorities, and establish rigorous financial controls to manage spend across construction, energy, and operations. The role has direct visibility with OpenAI’s executive team and board.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of three days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In this role, you will:

Capital Planning & Forecasting

• Own the multi-year capex and opex plan for data center builds that total billions of dollars.

• Create long-range models that integrate construction timelines, power ramp schedules, equipment delivery dates, and operational cost curves.

• Work with site development and commercial teams to incorporate local tax incentives, financing options, and utility interconnection costs into the business case.
  

Financial Analysis & Decision Support

• Develop ROI, IRR, NPV, and payback analyses for build-vs-lease-vs-cloud decisions, factoring in depreciation schedules and financing structures.

• Model sensitivity scenarios for cost overruns, schedule delays, or market shifts in power pricing and hardware costs.

• Quantify the cost impact of design choices (e.g., Tier III vs. Tier IV redundancy, cooling technology, PUE optimization).
  

Commercial Structuring & Negotiations

• Partner with procurement and legal to structure colocation leases, power purchase agreements, and long-term supply contracts.

• Design cost-recovery mechanisms, escalation clauses, and index-linked pricing models to manage long-term risk.

• Support negotiations by providing real-time financial impact assessments during deal discussions.
  

Performance Tracking & Cost Control

• Build reporting frameworks to track spend vs. budget across design, construction, commissioning, and operations.

• Implement variance analysis processes to identify cost drivers early and recommend corrective actions.

• Benchmark costs against industry peers and historical OpenAI projects to drive continuous improvement.
  

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Collaborate with engineering and project controls to integrate technical scope changes into financial forecasts.

• Coordinate with the energy team to align power procurement costs and PPA structures with site-level budgets.

• Advise operations on lifecycle cost implications of maintenance contracts, retrofits, and asset refresh cycles.
  

Executive & Board Reporting

• Prepare investment memos and presentations with clear financial narratives, trade-off analysis, and recommendations.

• Provide quarterly updates on capital deployment, budget performance, and strategic cost-optimization initiatives.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• 7+ years in infrastructure finance, FP&A, corporate development, or investment banking, with exposure to large-scale capital projects.

• Deep understanding of data center cost structures, including construction, electrical and mechanical systems, land acquisition, and operations.

• Strong modeling skills (Excel, SQL, Python a plus) with experience building dynamic multi-scenario capex/opex forecasts.

• Experience structuring long-term infrastructure contracts and analyzing the financial impact of commercial terms.

• Track record of driving cost optimization without compromising operational or strategic objectives.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complex financial insights into clear recommendations.

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, engineering, or related field; advanced degree or professional certification (e.g., CFA, CPA) a plus.

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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

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.

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