SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
OpenAI's Industrial Compute team is building the world's most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. This Real Estate Lead role owns land acquisition strategy and site-control execution for OpenAI's next-generation data center portfolio across the U.S., sitting at the intersection of commercial, technical, strategy, and operations.
As an individual contributor (no direct reports initially), you will shape where OpenAI builds, secure land positions early, structure defensible commercial terms, and coordinate legal, technical, and development work to move opportunities from sourced lead to controlled site and readiness handoff.
Key responsibilities include: owning market prioritization and portfolio acquisition strategy across target geographies with scenario analysis for speed, scale, expansion, and risk-adjusted economics; proactively sourcing and evaluating land parcels at scale; building and managing a national pipeline using broker/developer relationships and market mapping; leading commercial site-control strategy and running multiple parallel negotiations (LOIs, option agreements, PSAs, leases); coordinating cross-functional diligence across zoning, entitlements, title, environmental, power/water infrastructure, and easement needs; partnering with Utilities, Land Development, Environmental, Economic Development, and Community Affairs teams; negotiating transaction structures balancing flexibility with execution risk; preparing transaction approval packages and executive summaries; building repeatable playbooks and decision criteria; establishing durable relationships with brokers, developers, and landowners; and monitoring national/regional land markets, pricing, policy, and community dynamics.
You will travel to prospect and close on-site acquisition deals. The role requires 8+ years in commercial real estate acquisition, site selection, or corporate development (ideally with data center or hyperscaler experience); proven success closing large-scale land deals (500+ acres) under tight timelines; deep understanding of data center site selection drivers (power, grid, fiber, zoning, entitlements, environmental); ability to manage complex due diligence; strong negotiation skills; excellent stakeholder communication; strategic, data-driven thinking; and travel readiness.
