Hardware Controller

About the Team

OpenAI Finance is responsible for ensuring the organization is set up for success in pursuit of its mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

Our Hardware Controllership team partners closely with Infrastructure, Procurement, and Strategic Finance to ensure that OpenAI's hardware investments and assets are accurately tracked, depreciated, and controlled.

About the Role

We are seeking a Hardware Controller to lead the accounting, controls, and financial reporting for OpenAI's growing portfolio of hardware and infrastructure assets. You will be responsible for the end-to-end accounting cycle for hardware purchases and capital projects, including capitalization, depreciation, inventory management, vendor contracts, and compliance.

As our hardware footprint expands to support cutting-edge AI models, you will also build scalable processes for hardware accounting, partner with engineering and procurement teams, and ensure compliance with US GAAP and internal controls.

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:

• Own all accounting for hardware-related assets, including capitalization policies, fixed asset tracking, and depreciation.

• Lead monthly and quarterly close for hardware and capital projects, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely reporting.

• Develop and maintain internal controls for hardware procurement, asset tagging, disposals, and physical verification.

• Partner with Infrastructure, Procurement, and Engineering to monitor hardware spend, project budgets, and vendor agreements.

• Work with Strategic Finance to forecast and analyze hardware costs and align capex vs. opex classification.

• Oversee lease and co-location agreements in compliance with ASC 842 (as applicable).

• Automate and streamline asset management processes (specifically, Oracle Fusion, subledger tracking).

• Lead audit requests, providing schedules and documentation for hardware-related accounts.

• Build and mentor a team of fixed asset and hardware accounting professionals.

• Partner cross-functionally and with leadership on large-scale, strategic hardware procurement initiatives and capacity planning.

• Design and scale systems and processes to support OpenAI's growing financial complexity.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• CPA or equivalent with 15+ years of accounting experience, including hardware, fixed asset, or inventory accounting in tech or manufacturing industries.

• Deep knowledge of US GAAP (ASC 360 - Property, Plant & Equipment) and capital project accounting.

• Experience leading hardware or infrastructure controllership at scale, ideally within a high-growth or technology-focused company.

• Strong cross-functional communication skills and the ability to partner with engineering, procurement, and operations teams.

• Experience with ERP systems (Oracle Fusion) and asset tracking subledgers.

• Demonstrated ability to build and improve processes (automation experience a plus).

• 3+ years in an accounting leadership role, with a track record of building teams and mentoring accounting professionals.

• A passion for technology and artificial intelligence.

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.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. 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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We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

Compensation Range: $295K