Senior Employee Relations Partner (Non-Investigations)

About the Team

OpenAI’s People team is committed to hiring, engaging, and supporting world-class talent to help safely build and deploy universally beneficial Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

The Global Employee Relations and People Standards team guides OpenAI through some of its most nuanced and high-impact people challenges. With deep expertise in employee relations, investigations, compliance, and policy, we design thoughtful, principled solutions that reflect our values and the unique pace of OpenAI. We don’t default to rigid frameworks — instead, we lead with context, care, and creativity to support our people through complexity, growth, and change.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Senior Employee Relations Partner to focus on non-investigative matters, supporting high-trust, high-impact People matters. This includes conflict resolution, high-risk performance management, sensitive employee exits, and navigating workplace dynamics that require thoughtful, strategic support even when they don’t involve formal investigations.

We're looking for someone who brings creativity, flexibility, and a deeply human-centered approach to solving People challenges. You’re energized by complexity and nuance, and instinctively seek out tailored, thoughtful solutions rather than one-size-fits-all answers. You don’t just apply rules; you understand context, think strategically, and help leaders make principled decisions that reflect our values and evolving culture. This role is a fit for someone who adapts quickly, thrives in uncertainty, and focuses on what’s possible, not just what’s standard.

This work requires exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to connect across all levels, build trust quickly, and guide leaders with clarity and confidence. You should be comfortable in a high-growth, fast-changing environment, making sound decisions with imperfect information. You bring expertise in navigating high-tension, highly escalated employee situations, and remain calm, clear-headed, and grounded under pressure. You’ll approach your work with urgency, empathy, and strong judgment, serving as a collaborative partner and steady presence in nuanced People moments. Your impact will help reinforce a culture of clarity, accountability, and psychological safety, and support leaders and teams in doing their best work through times of growth and complexity.

You’ll have several responsibilities, including:

• Coach and guide managers, HRBPs, and cross-functional partners through complex or high-risk employee situations, including conflict resolution, interpersonal friction, performance challenges, and difficult conversations. You’ll bring emotional intelligence and principled thinking to every interaction.

• Partner closely with our Legal and HRBP teams on strategic performance management, offering guidance on performance improvement plans (PIPs), documentation, and exit strategies. You'll help ensure decisions prioritize fairness to the individual while also supporting overall team health and business needs.

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners  and leadership to ensure alignment on People decisions, organizational changes, and policy implementation.

• Lead or support sensitive, high-touch employee exits where preserving dignity, ensuring compliance, and maintaining cultural alignment are all essential.

• Act as a sounding board and escalation partner for workplace culture concerns, manager-employee dynamics, and early signals of broader People issues.

• Help build scalable tools, templates, and frameworks that strengthen the ER muscle across the company and reduce over-reliance on formal processes or investigations.

• Navigate ambiguity with a proactive, calm, creative, and solutions-oriented mindset, helping to clarify issues and move toward resolution in a dynamic, evolving environment.

• Use data and insight to identify trends and advise on systemic solutions that promote trust, engagement, and long-term cultural health.

We’ll look for these qualities, experience, and skills:

• A Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of experience in employee relations or other People experience roles, ideally in high-growth, fast-paced, and highly dynamic environments. Experience in tech, research, or mission-driven orgs is a plus.

• A non-conventional mindset. You bring creative, outside-the-box thinking to complex People issues, and you’re not bound by the way things have always been done. You know when structure helps, and when a bespoke approach is the better path.

• Proven experience managing high-tension, highly escalated employee situations with discretion, empathy, and calm under pressure. You know how to de-escalate effectively, build trust in difficult moments, and support leaders through emotionally charged or high-stakes scenarios.

• A proven track record of handling complex performance management, sensitive exits, and conflict resolution with a steady, thoughtful, and pragmatic approach.

• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills—you build trust quickly, communicate with warmth and clarity, and can connect with employees, managers, and senior leaders alike.

• A low-ego, high-ownership mindset. You’re equally comfortable advising executives and rolling up your sleeves to fine-tune a template, fix a process, or support an employee through a difficult moment.

• Strong instincts for People and culture, with the ability to read situations, understand organizational dynamics, and offer grounded, empathetic guidance.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially when navigating sensitive or high-stakes conversations.

• Comfort operating in ambiguity and rapid change, with the ability to move quickly and decisively while staying aligned with OpenAI’s mission and values.

• A commitment to fairness, discretion, and principled decision-making. You’re thoughtful, balanced, and clear-eyed, even under pressure.

Workplace & Location

This role is based in our San Francisco or New York office, and we offer relocation assistance to new employees for office-based roles.

Our offices use a hybrid work model: three days in the office per week with optional work from home on Thursdays and Fridays. Our open-plan offices have height-adjustable desks, conference rooms, phone booths, well-stocked kitchens full of snacks and drinks and more.

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 do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. 

OpenAI Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement

For US Based Candidates: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

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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.