Deputy General Counsel, Commercial (Marketing) at OpenAI in San Francisco

Job description

• Application
• About the Team
• We are seeking an experienced attorney to serve as the commercial legal lead for Marketing. Based in San Francisco, you will be a primary legal partner to OpenAI’s rapidly growing global Marketing organization, supporting high-impact campaigns, creative production, talent and creator relationships, sponsorships, events, and the agreements and rights that make that work possible.
• You will work closely with Marketing, Communications, Partnerships, Procurement, Finance, Product, and colleagues across Legal, including Product, Privacy, Regulatory, and IP/Brand, to deliver practical advice at the pace of the business.
• This is a unique opportunity to help shape OpenAI’s Marketing efforts, negotiate sophisticated transactions, and build scalable legal frameworks for responsible global growth.
• We operate on a hybrid work model of three days per week in the office and offer relocation support for new employees.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the commercial legal lead for Marketing, partnering closely with Brand, Creative, Product Marketing, Design, Film and Photo, Performance Marketing, Partner Marketing, Communications, and regional teams from concept through launch.
• Draft and negotiate a wide range of marketing and entertainment agreements, including agency, production, talent and creator, sponsorship, event, media, content-licensing, marketing-technology, and vendor agreements.
• Structure and clear the rights needed for campaigns and content, including talent and appearance releases, publicity and likeness rights, user-generated content, copyright and trademark permissions, music, artwork, locations, footage, and multi-channel media use.
• Provide fast, practical counseling on campaign execution, public claims and disclosures, endorsements, promotions and offers, social and paid media, coordinating with specialist counsel where appropriate.
• Support high-profile talent, creator, partner, sponsorship, event, and launch matters; identify true blockers early, calibrate risk, and propose workable alternatives that keep projects moving.
• Manage matters through intake, vendor onboarding, review, approval, signature, and launch, collaborating with Marketing Operations, Procurement, Finance, Business Affairs, Legal Operations, and external counterparties.
• Develop and maintain scalable templates, playbooks, training, and workflows that enable self-service for routine work and focus legal review on novel issues, redlines, and exceptions.
• Stay current on evolving advertising, consumer-protection, endorsement, privacy, platform, and AI-transparency requirements and translate them into clear guidance for global teams.

Requirements

• Have 15+ years of relevant legal experience across in-house and technology, media, entertainment, or advertising-focused law firm roles.
• Bring deep experience drafting and negotiating complex marketing, advertising, entertainment, production, sponsorship, talent, creator, content-licensing, and technology transactions.
• Understand advertising and consumer-protection law, endorsements and promotions, IP and content rights, publicity and privacy issues, and the practical requirements of digital, social, paid, broadcast, and out-of-home media.
• Have led legal support for fast-moving, high-visibility campaigns and launches, and make sound, practical decisions with incomplete information and compressed timelines.
• Are comfortable independently leading a complex legal workstream—entrepreneurial, proactive, and able to create structure in a fast-changing environment.
• Can turn recurring legal issues into clear templates, guardrails, and processes that scale.
• Communicate with clarity and business judgment, build trusted cross-functional relationships, and adapt your style to diverse audiences.
• Bring a strong sense of ownership, intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, and enthusiasm for technology and the novel legal issues created by AI.

Skills

Required

• Adapting style to diverse audiences

Benefits

• 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.
• More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.
• This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.