Senior Counsel, EU Policy/Regulatory

OpenAI's Legal team plays a crucial role in furthering OpenAI's mission by tackling innovative, fundamental legal issues in AI. If you're passionate about doing significant and unique work as a technology lawyer, this team is for you. The team comprises professionals from diverse fields, including technology, AI, privacy, IP, commercial, corporate, employment, tax law, regulatory, and litigation.

We’re seeking an experienced lawyer to join OpenAI’s EU Policy/Regulatory Legal team. You will own assigned legal matters and workstreams concerning EU and UK AI and digital regulation, prepare practical legal advice, and support engagements with the EU AI Office, other regulators and policymakers. Working with our Associate General Counsel, EU Policy/Regulatory, you will assess regulatory developments, develop legal recommendations and help translate them into action across OpenAI’s products and operations.

We’re looking for a hands-on lawyer who can work independently, exercise sound judgment in unfamiliar areas, manage competing priorities and collaborate effectively across teams. You should be comfortable taking responsibility for your work while identifying material risks and knowing when to escalate. This individual-contributor role reports to our Associate General Counsel, EU Policy/Regulatory.

In this role, you will:

Prepare for and participate in OpenAI’s EU and UK engagements with the European Commission, EU member states, other EU institutions, national regulators and policymakers, including briefing materials and follow-up actions.

Advise on the interpretation and application of existing and emerging AI, digital and technology regulation, and translate complex regulatory requirements into practical legal and business guidance.

Assess regulatory developments, enforcement risks and policy proposals, and develop legal recommendations for the AGC on their implications for OpenAI’s products and operations.

Work with US and EU legal colleagues to deliver coordinated advice and progress assigned cross-border matters.

Partner with Global Affairs, policy and regulatory affairs colleagues to draft legal input into policy positions, consultation responses, regulatory guidance, codes of practice and industry standards.

Own assigned workstreams for regulatory inquiries, investigations and supervisory engagements, including drafting responses, coordinating factual inputs and escalating material issues to the AGC.

You might thrive in this role if you:

10+ years of legal experience.

Law degree (JD, LL.B., or equivalent) and qualification to practice law in at least one relevant jurisdiction.

Experience advising on EU or UK technology regulatory matters and independently managing legal workstreams.

Relevant in-house, law firm and/or government or institutional legal experience.

Experience analyzing complex legislation and regulations, including technology laws such as the EU AI Act, Data Act, Digital Services Act, Online Safety Act, GDPR or Digital Markets Act, and the ability to develop expertise in new frameworks.

Familiarity with EU legislative and regulatory processes and the respective roles of EU institutions and national authorities.

Experience preparing for or participating in engagements with European regulators or policymakers, including drafting clear, accurate submissions and briefing materials.

Ability to produce clear and concise writing, distilling complex concepts into simple, explainable, and persuasive ideas.

Ability to work independently on assigned matters, exercise sound judgment and recognize when to escalate material risks or seek specialist input.

Ability to move between legal analysis, regulatory strategy and practical implementation, and to identify the issues that matter most to the business.

Ability to manage competing deadlines, coordinate contributions from other teams and take matters through to delivery.

Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to give practical advice and influence colleagues without relying on managerial authority.

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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