Land Development & Due Diligence Lead

About the Team

OpenAI, in close collaboration with our capital partners, is embarking on a journey to build the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. The Industrial Compute team is central to this mission, setting the core infra strategy and implementing this vision. From site selection to the buildout process, this team sits at the intersection of commercial, technical, strategy, and operations, interacting with teams and executives inside and outside of OpenAI.

About the Role

Responsible for validating that proposed sites are buildable, compliant, and cost-effective. You will lead diligence across civil, geotechnical, environmental, and entitlement dimensions, identifying risks and driving mitigation strategies.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all technical diligence: geotech, soils, title/ALTA surveys, mineral rights, and access.

• Oversee permitting/entitlement path and schedule governance with agencies.

• Evaluate generator air permits, wetlands, floodplain, and stormwater constraints.

• Manage consultants performing feasibility studies and environmental assessments.

• Deliver go/no-go recommendations with risk and mitigation options.

• Build diligence templates and playbooks to scale future site reviews.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in land development, civil/environmental engineering, or data center diligence.

• Knowledge of permitting, entitlements, and AHJ engagement.

• Strong project management and technical review skills.

• Experience managing consultants and interpreting complex studies.

• Regularly communicate site readiness updates, risks, and milestones to executive stakeholders

• Establish and track key performance indicators to assess the effectiveness of the site selection program and the contributions of external vendors and partners.

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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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.