Director, Certifications

About the Role

OpenAI’s certification initiative is a major strategic program that spans multiple parts of the company. The Director of Certifications will own this initiative as a company-level program across Product, Customer Education, GTM, and Partnerships.

This role is responsible for defining the architecture, operating model, and long-term trajectory of OpenAI’s certification program. You will set vision for how OpenAI certifications are structured, how they integrate with product capabilities, and how the system scales to reach millions of learners while maintaining credibility and rigor. The role requires operating across all of OpenAI to build a coherent certification system that reflects real product capability.

The role reports to the Head of Customer Readiness and works closely with leaders across Product, GTM, and Partnerships.

• Lead the development of OpenAI’s certification system as a company-wide initiative.
• Define the program’s structure, roadmap, and operating model.
• Ensure that certifications evolve alongside OpenAI’s rapidly developing products.

• Develop frameworks for evaluating practical AI capability using OpenAI products.
• Ensure certifications measure real workflows and product usage rather than theoretical knowledge.
• Translate product capabilities into meaningful certification pathways.

• Partner closely with product teams to ensure certification systems integrate with OpenAI’s platform and learning tools.
• Influence product features that support learning, evaluation, and skill development.
• Ensure certifications remain tightly aligned with real product capabilities.

• Design a program architecture capable of reaching millions of learners while maintaining credibility and signal value.
• Ensure certification pathways integrate with OpenAI learning programs and educational initiatives.
• Establish systems that allow certification programs to scale globally.

• Operate across Product, GTM, Customer Education, and Partnerships to align strategy and execution.
• Ensure certification initiatives reinforce enterprise adoption and workforce readiness.
• Build shared understanding across teams of how certification programs support OpenAI’s broader mission.

• Have led large, cross-functional strategic initiatives involving product, education, and go-to-market teams
• Are comfortable defining new programs where the operating model does not yet exist
• Can influence multiple teams and senior leaders without direct authority
• Enjoy working at the intersection of technology, education, and workforce transformation

• Experience leading high-impact, high-visibility cross-functional programs
• Experience building for developer or technical audiences
• Experience leading large-scale learning or credential systems
• Experience working closely with product teams on customer-facing tools
• Familiarity with developer platforms, AI systems, or emerging technology ecosystems

AI is rapidly becoming a foundational capability across the global economy. As organizations adopt AI technologies, the ability to demonstrate real skills with these systems will become increasingly important.

The certification system being built at OpenAI will help define how AI capability is measured and recognized.

The person in this role will shape how millions of people demonstrate practical AI skills and how organizations evaluate those capabilities.

Compensation Range: $239.4K - $335K USD

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.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San…