Global Program Lead, New Graduate – SMB Fellowship

Job description

About the team The Community team builds relationships with credible power users, helps them do something consequential with OpenAI’s technology, and turns the strongest outcomes into stories people remember and retell. About the role OpenAI is seeking a founding Program Lead to build a fellowship connecting exceptional new graduates with small and medium-sized businesses seeking practical support adopting AI. Small businesses need hands-on help adopting AI. New graduates need credible pathways into the AI economy. We are looking for someone who can create concrete value—and find inspiring stories that cut through the noise—by connecting the two. This new program will recruit and train technically capable graduates, match them with businesses, and support them in deploying OpenAI tools against real operational needs. Its goals are to help these businesses achieve measurable value, create meaningful career pathways in AI deployment for new grad, and surface credible stories about how AI can benefit everyday organizations and communities. You will take the program from concept to launch—testing demand, shaping the service model, recruiting the founding team and first fellows, and building the systems required to operate responsibly and scale. This is a zero-to-one leadership role for someone who combines entrepreneurial judgment with strong field and operational experience. What you’ll do Drive the strategy and build the team and partners to realize, then scale, this program. Identify the businesses, markets, and operational needs best suited to the program. Build a strong pipeline of SMB partners and establish clear readiness criteria. Develop a repeatable methodology for understanding business needs, deploying OpenAI tools, and enabling teams to use them independently. Design the full fellow experience, from selection and training through deployment support and career development. Establish standards for responsible deployment, including privacy, security, system access, quality, and escalation. Define meaningful measures of business impact, product adoption, and fellow development. Build feedback loops that turn early deployments into a scalable operating model. Partner across OpenAI—including Product, GTM, Research, Global Affairs, Legal, Security, Communications, and Marketing. Pinpoint and work with our creative teams to capture authentic, consent-based…