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OpenAI is building advanced AI infrastructure to support its research and deployment mission. The Site Readiness & Development team is responsible for converting land opportunities into executable infrastructure options.
The Development Lead owns the complete development pathway from initial site screening through design and construction handoff. This role is accountable for validating viable power pathways, translating site constraints into building-level deployment plans with clear sequencing and timing, and executing disciplined phase-by-phase action lists that close decision gaps and evidence requirements.
Key responsibilities include:
- Owning the stage-gate path from exclusivity and commercial terms through desktop diligence, confirmatory diligence, site closing, and handoff into design, construction, and operations.
- Validating power pathways with utility partners, including service options, interconnection, delivery sequencing, readiness assumptions, schedule exposure, and cost implications.
- Converting each development phase into disciplined action lists with clear owners, deadlines, closure criteria, and escalation paths; driving closure rather than reporting status.
- Translating power, land, civil, environmental, access, entitlement, and permitting constraints into integrated building-level deployment plans.
- Coordinating site access, exclusivity, LOI, commercial terms, financing, and closing requirements across Commercial, Legal, Finance, Power, Land, and partner teams.
- Defining desktop diligence scope (15–30 day deliverables) and governing 90–120 day confirmatory diligence plans with go/no-go criteria.
- Setting and tracking expected completion dates for easements, offsite improvements, environmental studies, geotechnical reports, and other site-specific workstreams.
- Scoping and managing diligence vendors and consultants, ensuring outputs tie to decisions, schedule, cost, and risk mitigation.
- Maintaining integrated development schedules, budget implications, dependency trackers, risk registers, and executive escalation cadence.
- Delivering executive-ready advance, defer, or stop recommendations and preparing readiness packages for transition into design, construction, and operations.
Requirements:
- 6+ years in land development, infrastructure development, data center development, energy-project development, electrical, mechanical, civil or environmental engineering, or related project delivery.
- Experience advancing large-scale facility programs through early planning, power validation, phased development, site closing, and readiness handoff.
- Strong ability to evaluate power pathways and translate utility, interconnection, and delivery findings into schedule, cost, and deployment implications.
- Highly organized operator who can convert ambiguous diligence into owner-based action lists, closure criteria, critical paths, and executive decisions.
