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OpenAI's Hardware organization is seeking an experienced Hardware Strategic Sourcing & Manufacturing Partnerships Manager to lead strategic engagements with joint design manufacturers (JDMs), contract manufacturers (CMs), and original design manufacturers (ODMs) across the hardware ecosystem.
Based in Singapore, you will own the complete manufacturing partner lifecycle: developing sourcing strategies, leading RFIs and RFPs, evaluating and selecting partners, negotiating commercial agreements, onboarding suppliers, launching manufacturing programs, and managing long-term partnerships. You will work closely with engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, finance, legal, security, and program management teams to establish partnerships supporting AI-native silicon, rack-scale systems, and related infrastructure.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and execute partnership strategies across JDM, CM, and ODM engagement models based on product requirements, technical complexity, scale, speed, cost, and risk
- Lead end-to-end RFI and RFP processes, including requirements definition, market outreach, competitive bid management, stakeholder evaluation, and selection recommendations
- Evaluate manufacturing partners across technical capabilities, design resources, manufacturing readiness, quality systems, production capacity, financial stability, security, supply-chain resilience, and strategic alignment
- Negotiate and structure agreements covering master services agreements, statements of work, engineering and manufacturing responsibilities, nonrecurring engineering, tooling, pricing, capacity commitments, intellectual property, warranties, and service levels
- Establish clear commercial and operational ownership across partner models, including design responsibilities, engineering deliverables, manufacturing execution, quality accountability, and escalation procedures
- Develop transparent cost and pricing structures covering bills of materials, engineering services, tooling, manufacturing labor, overhead, margin, and total cost of ownership
- Apply should-cost analysis, open-book pricing, benchmarking, and cost-down planning to evaluate proposals and improve manufacturing economics
- Lead partner onboarding and program bring-up, translating agreements into operating plans, resource commitments, technical readiness requirements, and governance structures
- Coordinate manufacturing readiness, new product introduction, design transfer, production ramp, and ongoing operations across cross-functional teams
- Build and maintain strong relationships with partners, serving as primary commercial point of contact
- Establish partner governance through performance scorecards, executive business reviews, forecasts, corrective action plans, and continuous-improvement initiatives
- Identify and mitigate risks related to manufacturing capacity, supplier concentration, quality, delivery, geopolitical exposure, and continuity
- Develop repeatable frameworks for partner selection, contracting, onboarding, and performance management
Required qualifications: 10+ years in strategic sourcing, manufacturing partnerships, supplier management, procurement, or supply-chain leadership within hardware, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, or technology infrastructure. Direct experience selecting, negotiating with, and managing JDM, CM, and ODM partners supporting complex hardware programs. Strong understanding of JDM, CM, and ODM business models, design ownership, engineering responsibilities, manufacturing execution, intellectual property, and commercial structures. Experience leading partner engagements from RFI/RFP through evaluation, selection, contracting, onboarding, new product introduction, production ramp, and ongoing management. Strong negotiation skills and expertise in manufacturing cost models, should-cost analysis, open-book pricing, and total cost of ownership. Technical credibility to collaborate on rack-scale systems, compute infrastructure, networking, storage, silicon, or related hardware. Strong analytical judgment and ability to assess tradeoffs among cost, quality, and capacity.
