Preconstruction Lead - Stargate

OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital partners, is embarking on a journey to build the world's most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. The Stargate team is central to this mission, setting the core infrastructure strategy and implementing this vision. From site selection through design, budgeting, and construction planning, this team sits at the intersection of commercial, technical, strategy, and operations, interacting with teams and executives inside and outside of OpenAI.

OpenAI is seeking someone who is excited by massive global challenges spanning thousands of stakeholders; someone motivated by solving complex, interconnected problems. Specifically, the Infrastructure Strategy & Delivery team supporting Stargate is seeking an experienced and ambitious leader to join our team as the Preconstruction Lead.

This role is uniquely positioned to own the front-end planning, design coordination, budgeting, and scheduling that set the foundation for success on multi-billion-dollar data center projects. You will lead the preconstruction effort across our hyperscale program, driving alignment of design intent with cost, schedule, risk, and constructability.

Building the infrastructure to enable the future of AI requires tight control over design progression, schedule integration, cost modeling, and capital planning. We need someone who can orchestrate the preconstruction phase with precision, ensuring seamless handoffs from concept to execution.

This role will focus on design oversight, budgeting and cost modeling, scheduling, and risk management for Stargate deployments. You will be pivotal in establishing project execution plans, coordinating across consultants, and ensuring readiness for construction kickoff.

• Own and manage Stargate's preconstruction planning and forecasting, from concept through IFC (Issued For Construction) documents and contractor buyout.

• Lead design management, value engineering, and constructability reviews to ensure alignment between technical requirements, cost, and schedule.

• Drive preconstruction budgeting, detailed cost modeling, and early-stage procurement strategies to optimize project delivery.

• Implement and maintain rigorous preconstruction tracking, milestone reporting, and risk mitigation processes.

• Partner with design consultants, GCs, and trade partners during early design and bid phases to develop realistic budgets and schedules.

• Benchmark construction costs, delivery models, and risk factors across geographies to maintain real-time market intelligence.

• Lead RFP, bid leveling, and GMP development processes, collaborating closely with Legal and Procurement.

• Present cost, schedule, and constructability assessments to executive leadership and recommend mitigation strategies.

• Partner cross-functionally with Legal, Finance, Real Estate, and Design & Construction teams to ensure alignment between commercial and technical priorities.

• Have 10+ years of experience leading preconstruction or design management for mission-critical, hyperscale, or complex commercial developments.

• Have deep expertise in cost modeling, schedule forecasting, value engineering, and constructability reviews.

• Have experience client-side (preferred) or within top general contractors, developers, or cost consultancies.

• Have managed preconstruction phases for multi-billion-dollar portfolios across multiple regions.

• Are highly detail-oriented, analytical, and proactive in identifying and mitigating design and delivery risks early.

• Are skilled at coordinating across architects, engineers, contractors, and executive teams to bring clarity and alignment.

• Communicate complex technical, design, and cost information clearly to executive leadership.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment and can drive structure and accountability across multiple stakeholders.

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.

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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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Compensation Range: $285K - $355K