--- title: 'Senior Counsel, Commercial (Robotics) at OpenAI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-counsel-commercial-robotics-openai-san-francisco-tbf2tbfersd7' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Senior Counsel, Commercial (Robotics) at OpenAI - **Company:** [OpenAI](https://feeny.ai/companies/openai) - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Compensation:** $297k–$347k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-07-22 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/openai/21734593-6318-4e55-a685-53c52c0bbfe9 ## Job description ## About the Team Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and advancing toward AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world environments. Working across the full model and systems stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the physical constraints of real-world systems to improve people’s lives. ## About the Role We are seeking an experienced commercial attorney to serve as the primary legal partner supporting Robotics. In this role, you will provide practical, business-oriented legal counsel across hardware development, manufacturing, supply chain, procurement, and strategic commercial initiatives. You will work closely with Robotics leadership and cross-functional partners to help build scalable legal frameworks that enable innovation while thoughtfully managing risk. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the legal foundation of a rapidly growing robotics organization developing cutting-edge technologies. You will negotiate high-impact commercial agreements, advise on complex operational matters, and partner closely with technical and business teams to support the development and commercialization of next-generation robotics systems. This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week. In this role, you will: - Serve as the primary legal partner supporting Robotics leadership and cross-functional teams. - Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice to teams across hardware engineering, manufacturing operations, supply chain, procurement, finance, and operations. - Draft, review, and negotiate complex commercial agreements, including supplier, manufacturing, development, consulting, licensing, procurement, and strategic partnership agreements. - Advise on legal issues arising throughout the hardware development lifecycle, including manufacturing, supply chain operations, vendor relationships, and emerging business initiatives. - Identify commercial, regulatory, intellectual property, privacy, compliance, and other legal risks associated with commercial transactions, partnering with subject matter experts across the Legal organization as needed. - Develop scalable legal processes, templates, playbooks, and guidance that enable the organization to move quickly while managing risk appropriately. - Monitor and advise on legal and regulatory developments affecting hardware development, manufacturing, and global operations. - Collaborate closely with colleagues across Employment, Privacy, Intellectual Property, Regulatory, Compliance, Security, Tax, Trade, and other Legal teams to provide coordinated legal support. - Translate complex legal concepts into clear, actionable guidance for technical and non-technical stakeholders. - Build trusted relationships across the organization and serve as a strategic advisor to Robotics leadership. You might thrive in this role if you: - Have 8+ years of experience across a leading law firm and/or in-house legal department supporting technology companies. - Bring significant experience drafting and negotiating sophisticated commercial agreements, particularly involving hardware supply, manufacturing, procurement, development, licensing, and strategic partnerships. - Are comfortable operating in fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments where priorities evolve quickly and there isn't always an established playbook. - Exercise sound business judgment and provide practical legal advice that enables teams to move quickly while appropriately managing risk. - Communicate complex legal concepts clearly and tailor guidance to technical and business audiences. - Build strong cross-functional relationships and influence through partnership rather than authority. - Demonstrate a high degree of ownership, intellectual curiosity, and enthusiasm for emerging technologies. - Operate independently while effectively managing multiple priorities and competing deadlines. - Have a JD and license or qualification to practice in California. What success looks like: - Robotics teams view Legal as a trusted strategic partner and engage early on key initiatives. - Commercial agreements are negotiated efficiently while balancing business objectives, operational needs, and legal risk. - Practical legal frameworks, templates, and scalable processes enable the Robotics organization to move faster with greater consistency. - Emerging legal and regulatory issues are identified proactively, with thoughtful recommendations that support informed decision making. ## 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. For additional information, please see [OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement](https://cdn.openai.com/policies/eeo-policy-statement.pdf). 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 Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations. To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through [this form](https://form.asana.com/?d=57018692298241&k=5MqR40fZd7jlxVUh5J-UeA). No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this [link](https://form.asana.com/?k=bQ7w9h3iexRlicUdWRiwvg&d=57018692298241). [OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy](https://cdn.openai.com/policies/global-employee-and-contractor-privacy-policy.pdf) 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. ## About OpenAI ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. - **Entity Type**: Private – structured as a nonprofit parent (OpenAI Foundation) governing a for-profit public benefit corporation (OpenAI Group). The company has confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC, signaling a potential future IPO. - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA - **Founded**: 2015 - **Founders**: Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, John Schulman, Wojciech Zaremba, and others ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Artificial intelligence research and deployment - **Target customers**: B2B (enterprises via API and platform), B2C (ChatGPT users), and developers (API, open-source models) - **Mission**: To ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) – AI systems that are generally smarter than humans – benefits all of humanity. ## Products & Services - **[ChatGPT](https://openai.com/chatgpt)**: Conversational AI assistant available via web and mobile, used by consumers and integrated into enterprise workflows. - **[GPT-4 API](https://openai.com/product)**: Large language model accessed via API for developers to build AI-powered applications (text generation, summarization, code assistance, etc.). - **[DALL-E](https://openai.com/dall-e-3)**: Image generation model that creates images from natural language descriptions. - **[Whisper](https://openai.com/research/whisper)**: Open-source speech recognition system. - **[OpenAI Agents](https://openai.com/)**: Emerging product category focused on autonomous AI agents that can perform tasks on behalf of users (announced June 2026). ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed in the provided sources. Widely reported in the press at ~$300 billion as of early 2026 (post-funding round), but this figure is not confirmed by OpenAI’s official materials. - **Key Metric**: Total funding exceeds $13 billion from Microsoft and other investors. The company has also confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC (see [openai.com](https://openai.com/) – “Confidential submission of draft S-1”). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Microsoft (strategic partner and largest investor), with additional participation from Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and others. - **Growth Signals**: Active hiring with 721 open roles posted; expansion into agent-based products; confidential IPO filing; continued deployment of frontier models. ## Competitive Advantages - **First-mover & brand recognition**: ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app in history, establishing OpenAI as the household name in generative AI. - **Research leadership**: Consistently publishes cutting-edge research (GPT-4, DALL-E 3, Whisper, etc.) and attracts top AI talent. - **Compute & infrastructure**: Exclusive partnership with Microsoft provides massive cloud computing resources (Azure) for training and inference. - **Unique governance structure**: The nonprofit parent ensures mission alignment (AGI benefiting humanity) while the for-profit arm can raise capital and scale products. ## Strategic Focus - **Safe AGI development**: Continued emphasis on safety research, alignment, and responsible deployment (e.g., safety systems, model provenance). - **Enterprise expansion**: Growing ChatGPT Enterprise and API offerings for businesses. - **Agentic AI**: Building autonomous agents that can “transform work” (announced June 2026). - **IPO preparation**: Confidential S-1 filing indicates intent to go public, which will require increased financial transparency and governance maturity. ## Why Work Here - **Culture & values**: OpenAI’s stated values include “Humanity first,” “Act with humility,” “Feel the AGI,” and “Ship joy.” Operating principles emphasize agency, creativity, rapid iteration, and intense focus. - **Benefits**: Competitive health insurance, mental healthcare support, 24-week paid birth-parent leave (plus 20 weeks for other parents), generous PTO, annual learning & development stipend, daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), and a domestic conference budget. - **Work environment**: Hybrid/office-based (San Francisco headquarters). The company offers a residency program for researchers and engineers transitioning into AI. - **Impact**: Employees work directly on frontier AI models that shape the industry and society. The mission-driven nature attracts talent passionate about AGI’s societal implications. ## Sources 1. [OpenAI About Page](https://openai.com/about/) 2. [OpenAI Careers Page](https://openai.com/careers/) 3. [OpenAI Job Search](https://openai.com/careers/search) 4. [OpenAI Homepage](https://openai.com/) ## Other roles at OpenAI - [Account Director, Digital Natives](https://feeny.ai/job/account-director-digital-natives-openai-delhi-w85camznm9da) — Delhi, India - [Product Designer, Youth](https://feeny.ai/job/product-designer-youth-openai-san-francisco-y2ejwx2gxsn1) — San Francisco, CA - [Senior Manager, EHS - Robotics](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-ehs-robotics-openai-san-francisco-562ppxrm3e6n) — San Francisco, CA - [Hardware Strategic Sourcing Manager, Optics](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-strategic-sourcing-manager-optics-openai-san-francisco-vrghp3x83twa) — San Francisco, CA - [Research Program Manager, Governance](https://feeny.ai/job/research-program-manager-governance-openai-san-francisco-t9jpag8tgexs) — San Francisco, CA - [Partnerships Operations Lead, OAI for Government](https://feeny.ai/job/partnerships-operations-lead-oai-for-government-openai-washington-vzejrcam99mr) — Washington, DC - [Technical Program Manager, Manufacturing Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-manufacturing-operations-openai-singapore-2px9t2t2dyvy) — Singapore - [Creative Director, Copy](https://feeny.ai/job/creative-director-copy-openai-new-york-jd7jgsad5xr4) — New York, NY - [Engineering Manager, ChatGPT Search Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-manager-chatgpt-search-infrastructure-openai-san-francisco-hh32vszf6wmn) — San Francisco, CA - [Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/physical-design-engineer-forward-deployed-engineering-openai-san-francisco-qqh4c31zzvj5) — San Francisco, CA