Economic Development Lead

About the Team OpenAI is building the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. The Site Readiness & Development team owns the upstream diligence and development work required to convert powered-land opportunities into executable infrastructure options. About the Role The Economic Development Lead works upstream across the national pipeline, beginning engagement before a project is public and helping shape the incentive, relationship, community-benefit, and approval strategy for sites under evaluation. This role enters early during site evaluation and deal formation; once a project moves toward announcement, the dedicated Community Engagement Lead becomes the local owner while the Economic Development Lead continues to support agreement-linked commitments and incentive execution. Key Responsibilities Own incentive strategy and negotiations. Build local and state economic-development relationships. Develop community-benefit commitments tied to project agreements. Coordinate with Site Selection, Land, Power, Legal, Finance, and Community Engagement. Identify political, commercial, and approval risks early. Transition local relationships and commitments to the assigned Community Engagement Lead as a project moves toward announcement. Qualifications 6+ years in economic development, public-private partnerships, infrastructure development, government affairs, or a related field. Experience structuring and negotiating incentive packages for large infrastructure, energy, te