Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Trade compliance rarely shows up as a headline SaaS role, yet it becomes mission critical when a software company depends on global hardware supply chains and cross border movement of compute. This position sits at that intersection, where product delivery is shaped as much by customs, export controls, and systems as by engineering roadmaps. The remit signals a SaaS organization operating at meaningful scale, with operational complexity that demands dedicated ownership.
For a long term SaaS career, the standout value is building repeatable infrastructure in a function that touches legal, finance, supply chain, and policy. Work like selecting trade compliance software, integrating with ERP modules, and setting data integrity controls translates well to other SaaS environments that run on automation, auditability, and clean operational metrics. The role also builds fluency in risk management and governance, two areas that increasingly influence enterprise SaaS buying and global expansion.
This role fits a senior operator who prefers ambiguous problem spaces and enjoys creating systems rather than inheriting mature ones. It will suit someone who can move between strategic planning and detailed execution, and who is comfortable influencing cross functional partners without relying on direct authority.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
About the Team
OpenAI Finance is responsible for ensuring the organization is set up for success in pursuit of its mission.
The Tax team is a vital part of OpenAI, ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations while optimizing the company's tax position. We work closely with various departments to provide tax insights and strategies that support the company's growth and financial objectives.
About the Role
The Head of Trade Compliance & Operations will build and scale OpenAI’s global trade function, spanning inbound customs, export controls, trade systems, and cross-border operations. You’ll partner closely with Legal, Hardware, Supply Chain, Finance, Tax, and Policy to create a compliant, resilient, and scalable foundation that supports compute acquisition and programs across R&D and infrastructure.
This is a strategic operator role that blends leadership with hands-on program development, systems design, and team building to accelerate the safe and responsible development of AGI.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.
In this role, you will:
Advise on global trade strategy across country-of-origin (COO) planning, tariff exposure, and global supply chain structure for compute and R&D initiatives.
Review supplier contracts with a focus on tariff, duty, and trade compliance provisions.
Ensure customs valuation is aligned with transfer pricing frameworks.
Select, configure, and manage global trade compliance software and ERP integrated trade modules to ensure systemic classification/COO/valuation logic.
Establish data integrity, automation, and reporting frameworks for import/export records and classification data.
Lead customs and import operations, including HTS classification, customs broker management, clearance operations, customs inquiries/disputes, and audit readiness.
Build our export compliance program, policies, and procedures, including classification, licensing, recordkeeping, investigations, and enforcement responses.
Develop global internal controls, risk monitoring, and audit frameworks that scale with the business.
Partner with Hardware Engineering, Supply Chain, Logistics, Tax, and Legal to embed trade considerations in manufacturing and sourcing choices.
Build and lead a high-performing trade compliance and import operations team that scales with OpenAI’s growth.
You might thrive in this role if you have:
12+ years of experience in customs, COO determinations, substantial transformation, HTS classification, and import compliance.
A JD or trade counsel background (highly preferred).
Experience building global trade programs in high-growth or hardware environments. 0 to 1 experience is a bonus.
Deep knowledge of HTS classification, customs valuation rules, export-control law, and preferential trade agreements.
A track record of managing customs and export compliance interactions and disputes.
Hands-on experience implementing or managing trade compliance software and ERP modules (e.g., SAP GTS, Descartes, Amber Road/E2Open, OCR).
Experience thriving in ambiguity, building from 0 to 1, and driving automation over manual processes.
Strong communication skills and the ability to influence senior partners in operations, legal, engineering, and policy.
About OpenAI
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.
Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.
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