Hardware Procurement Operations Lead (Controls & Integrations)

About the Team

Procurement sits within Finance and partners closely with Hardware BUs and to enable rapid execution with Finance-grade visibility and audit-ready controls. The team operates as an enablement and operating-system layer across procurement operations, systems, data, and governance—working cross-functionally with Finance/Accounting, Legal, Security/TPRM, Trade, Logistics, and Enterprise Platform Technology.

About the Role

We are seeking a hands-on leader to co-design, build, and run the procurement operations backbone for OpenAI’s hardware programs. This is a design-and-do role: you will build the operating enablement model (systems flows, governance, processes, and RACI/DRIs) that enables product teams to move at prototyping and production speed—while ensuring Finance, Legal, Security, and Trade requirements are met and audit-ready.

You will lead a small team, convene cross-functional forums to align on standard vs. BU-specific operating choices, and serve as the primary escalation point for centrally owned operational blockers. You will partner closely with Finance and Accounting to ensure direct-materials flows are visible and auditable end-to-end.

This role does not own product readiness or BU execution (e.g., planning, manufacturing operations, day-to-day logistics). The role reports in Finance and is dotted-line into BU leadership.

You’ll be responsible for:

Strategy & operating model

• Co-design and maintain the operating model with BU and functional leaders—defining what is standardized vs. BU-specific, clarifying central vs. embedded responsibilities, and documenting RACI/DRIs and escalation paths.
  

• Build the operating system (policies, playbooks, tiered approval lanes, templates) so prototype speed and production-grade controls can coexist.
  

• Define and run escalation paths, exception handling, and operating cadences to keep launches moving while maintaining compliance and audit readiness.

Delivery & execution

• Stand up and run the launch operational readiness (back-office) cadence for hardware programs—defining required controls, SLAs/DRIs, and cross-functional handoffs across supplier onboarding, purchasing/receiving signals, landed cost, and CapEx/asset tagging.
  

• Operationalize supplier onboarding/vendor master controls, PO lifecycle governance, receiving/inspection signals, 3-way match readiness, and tooling/CapEx capture controls.
  

• Ensure Finance-grade visibility via required part/PO metadata and reconciliation routines so Finance can track materials, receipts, liabilities, and supplier payments.
  

• Define requirements and controls for logistics partner performance (with Logistics leadership), including landed-cost visibility, invoice reconciliation, and SLA measurement.
  

• Define and ensure controls/data handoffs for finished-goods flows with manufacturing partners (e.g., title transfer, reporting cadence, data ingestion).
  

• Run operational readiness forums and unblock paths across Procurement, Logistics, Finance/Accounting, Legal, Security/TPRM, and Trade; document DRIs and outcomes tied to launches/milestones.
  

• Serve as primary cross-functional escalation point for centrally owned procurement-ops issues that block launches; partner with BU leads on BU-owned execution topics.
  

Systems & data

• Define requirements, workflows, and controls for hardware procurement ops; partner with Enterprise Platform Technology and BU teams to design/deliver integrations across intake, onboarding/risk, and select ERP module rollouts.
  

• Partner with Finance Systems and Accounting to define metadata and reconciliation processes so the org can reconcile materials, spend, receipts, and payments; deliver interim controls where integrations are not yet in place.
  

• Define/recommend/govern procurement-required BOM/AVL attributes (with BU engineering/supply chain) and maintain interim reconciliation workbooks where systems a