Program Officer, Catalytic Deployment

About OpenAI Foundation

The OpenAI Foundation is a newly established philanthropic organization dedicated to ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits humanity broadly. Launched as a separate entity from OpenAI, the Foundation operates with a mission to unlock AI’s potential to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges while preparing society for the opportunities and risks that advanced AI systems present. The Foundation recognizes that AI is already transforming how people work, learn, and access care, with applications ranging from accelerating medical breakthroughs and scientific discovery to enhancing personalized services in healthcare and education, enabling new tools for creativity and invention, and improving public services like transportation systems.

The Foundation commits significant resources to this mission, with plans to invest at least $1 billion over the coming year across critical focus areas including life sciences and curing diseases, jobs and economic impact, AI resilience, and community programs. This commitment includes early investments toward a previously announced $25 billion pledge dedicated to curing diseases and building AI resilience. The Foundation operates with the dual understanding that while AI presents extraordinary opportunities for benefiting humanity, it also introduces new challenges that require thoughtful preparation, partnership, and solutions to ensure society remains resilient as these technologies advance.

The Civil Society and Philanthropy team within the OpenAI Foundation represents a focused initiative to deploy advanced AI in service of global challenges affecting people and communities. This team partners with nonprofit and civil society organizations, as well as governments worldwide, to ensure AI meaningfully supports their essential work. By combining philanthropic investment, technical expertise, and convening power, the Foundation works alongside trusted partners to identify opportunities where AI can strengthen operations, expand reach, and deliver tangible community benefits.

The team operates across three primary areas: deploying AI in essential services to improve access and outcomes, equipping civil society organizations with tools and expertise for responsible AI adoption, and building shared infrastructure that allows successful tools and lessons to benefit the entire social sector.

The Program Officer, Catalytic Deployment role is a strategic position within the OpenAI Foundation’s Civil Society and Philanthropy division. This role is integral to the Catalytic Deployments team, combining philanthropic investment, strategic planning, institution-building, and operational execution. Program Officers serve as key collaborators with the Head of Catalytic Deployments, contributing to the definition of overall team priorities and the execution of major portfolio initiatives.

The position requires individuals with substantial experience in social sector domains and the ability to operate with meaningful autonomy and strong judgment. This role involves sourcing, evaluating, and recommending grants and other funding opportunities that align with the Foundation’s mission to accelerate AI’s positive impact in civil society. Program Officers conduct thorough due diligence on organizations, projects, and leaders to assess execution capability and potential for scaling AI-enabled approaches.

The position involves supporting a growing portfolio of grants with careful prioritization and high-quality follow-through, while simultaneously engaging deeply with the external ecosystem including researchers, nonprofits, academic centers, public-interest organizations, data platforms, funders, and potential grantee organizations. Program Officers in this role are responsible for identifying gaps in the current ecosystem and developing strategic ideas for how the Foundation can support new efforts, partnerships, or field-building initiatives.

This includes developing and launching new initiatives from conception through implementation, helping to shape concepts, convene stakeholders, and establish new efforts where needed. Program…