Senior Counsel, Employment (Global) · OpenAI

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:21:32 GMT
Legal

OpenAI · San Francisco · $297K – $330K · hybrid

Compensation

The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. If the role is non-exempt, overtime pay will be provided consistent with applicable laws. In addition to the salary range listed above, total compensation also includes generous equity, performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, 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

OpenAI's Legal team plays a crucial role in furthering our mission by tackling innovative and fundamental legal issues in AI. The team includes professionals with expertise spanning technology, privacy, IP, corporate, employment, tax law, regulatory, and litigation. If you're passionate about meaningful and unique work as a technology lawyer, this team is for you.

About the Role

We're looking for an experienced employment lawyer to support a growing volume of complex employment matters as OpenAI scales globally. This role will focus on advising on employment law issues across jurisdictions, supporting the People team, and building scalable processes for legal support as we expand.

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:

Advise on a broad range of employment legal matters, including international employment law.

Partner closely with the People team to support business and employee needs.

Support strategic initiatives such as legal training, and manage outside counsel on employment litigation and administrative charges.

Lead in developing processes that scale legal support for employment issues across OpenAI.

You might thrive in this role if you:

Have 8+ years of combined legal experience at fast-paced technology companies and/or law firms, with experience in international employment law and M&A.

Strong expertise on employment law aspects of global growth, and ensuring compliant market entry and workforce integration across jurisdictions.

Deep experience advising multinational companies on complex cross-border employment issues.

Proficiency advising on US federal and state labor and employment laws and regulations.

Have a strong sense of ownership, are inquisitive and enthusiastic about technology, enjoy being continually challenged, and can demonstrate sound judgment in ambiguous situations.

Have a JD and license or qualification to practice in CA.

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.