Senior IP Counsel, OpenAI
$230-280k
Total compensation also includes generous equity and benefits
3+ days a week in office
AI research and development platform
Job no longer available
AI research and development platform
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$230-280k
Total compensation also includes generous equity and benefits
3+ days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.
Role
Who you are
- Bring 10+ years of IP knowledge and skills from a law firm and in-house experience
- Experience in AI or related technology sectors would be highly advantageous
- Knowledge of open-source practices and software
- Strong understanding of patent, trade secret, and trademark laws
- Proven track record of managing complex IP portfolios
- Strong communication skills with the ability to convey complex legal principles clearly and concisely
- Ability to balance strategic and tactical issues
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional environment
- JD degree from an accredited law school and membership in at least one state bar
What the job involves
- In this role, you will manage our portfolio of intellectual property assets, particularly patents and trademarks
- You will provide our executive leadership and broader teams with legal and strategic guidance on IP issues.
- You’ll have a significant hand in how OpenAI navigates novel and nascent IP issues and influences the strategy for how we approach this long term
- Build, oversee, and manage our intellectual property portfolio
- Identify and assess potential risks and devise risk mitigation strategies in IP-related matters
- Guide the business on patent, trade secret, and trademark law and strategy
- Draft, review, and negotiate IP-related agreements, such as licenses, joint development, and non-disclosure agreements
- Coordinate with external legal counsel on IP filings, oppositions, and litigation
- Deliver IP training to teams to promote awareness of IP issues
Application process
- We expect to accept applications and conduct interviews through August, with onboarding occurring in September. The interview process for this role will primarily take place virtually and may include a written assessment
Our take
OpenAI aims to research and deploy AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) that is safe, controllable and beneficial to all of humanity. The company began its mission by developing an API that can solve language-based tasks, such as answering written questions or pulling up relevant documents based on a query.
Following the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, which gained more than 1 million users in its first 5 days and is already worth billions, OpenAI announced a paid version named ChatGPT Plus which will be launched in the US first.
It is worth noting that OpenAI is not without controversy. Its products have sparked conversations regarding the morals and implications of AI tools, and recent investigations have uncovered misalignments between the company's public commitments and its alleged operations behind closed doors.
Whilst AI applications can be found in a vast variety of tech startups, this generally consists of the automation of algorithmic tasks such as data analysis and organization. OpenAI’s approach to designing true human-like artificial intelligence is futuristic, but with support from its high-profile partners (such as Microsoft), an annualised revenue reported at $ 2 billion in 2023, and the clear success of its products have the company well set to continue bringing advanced AI to the public.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
42% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 10 rounds)
Feb 2026
$110bn
LATE VC
Dec 2025
$1bn
LATE VC
Total funding: $179.9bn
Company benefits
- Health/Dental/Vision Insurance
- Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care
- Mental healthcare service
- Fertility treatment coverage
- 401(k) with generous matching
- 20-week paid parental leave
- Life insurance (complimentary)
- AD&D insurance (complimentary)
- Short-term/long-term disability insurance (complimentary)
- Optional buy-up life insurance
- Flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off (we encourage 4+ weeks per year)
- Annual learning & development stipend
- Regular team happy hours and outings
- Daily catered lunch and dinner
- Travel to domestic conferences
Company HQ
Mission District, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Sam Altman
(CEO)Former Y Combinator President & Chairman.
Ilya Sutskever
(Chief Scientist)Initially served as the company's Research Director, then became Chief Scientist in 2018. Co-founded DNNResearch and previously worked at Google as a Research Scientist.
Greg Brockman
(President & Chairman)Previously served as CTO of the company. Founding Engineer and former CTO of Stripe.
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