About the Team

OpenAI’s People team aims to hire, engage, and retain world-class talent to safely build and deploy universally beneficial Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The HR team, a vital subset of the People team, supports a diverse group of scientists, engineers, and business professionals, with expertise in employee relations, immigration, compensation and benefits, learning and development, project management, and more.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior HR Manager to join our team and be our first “boots on the ground” in APAC. This high-impact role will be the primary strategic and operational HR partner supporting our growing teams across the broader APAC region, including Japan, Singapore, and other emerging locations. This is a strategic and hands-on role focused on building and scaling people operations in the region, while ensuring alignment with our global standards and values.

As our regional HR partner, you'll provide on-the-ground support, trusted partnership, and localized expertise to both leaders and employees. You’ll play a key role in setting up systems, creating scalable practices, and helping us grow responsibly and intentionally in APAC. This role reports to our Head of HR Business Partners, based in San Francisco.

Your Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the regional HR partner, providing both strategic partnership and hands-on support across all HR functions.

• Lead core HR operations, including onboarding, employee relations, performance management, and local policy guidance.

• Ensure compliance with local employment laws and regulations across Japan, Singapore, and other APAC regions.

• Collaborate with global Total Rewards, Payroll, and Benefits teams to ensure smooth, locally aligned HR operations.

• Act as a trusted advisor to leaders, using data-driven insights to support decision-making and enhance employee experience.

• Build scalable HR infrastructure to support regional growth and operational excellence.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and foster a positive, inclusive office culture aligned with OpenAI’s global values.

We’re Seeking:

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including deep experience in Japan and other parts of APAC.

• Proven ability to operate independently in a regional or country lead HR role.

• Strong cultural fluency and understanding of the nuances of managing HR across Japan, Singapore, and other APAC regions.

• Equally comfortable rolling up your sleeves on local HR matters and contributing to broader global People strategies.

• Has a collaborative, low-ego style, thriving in roles that require operational diligence and strategic foresight.

• Strong communicator, able to build trust and relationships across cultures and geographies.

• Passionate about building foundations, comfortable with ambiguity, and energized by growth opportunities.

Communication and Language Requirements

This role needs frequent communication in English with global stakeholders and hiring managers. Professional English fluency is a core requirement.

Workplace & Location

This role is based in our Tokyo, Japan office and we offer relocation assistance to new employees. We expect that you will have regular travel to our Singapore office location to build relationships and support those teams.

Our offices use a hybrid work model: three days in the office per week with optional work from home on Thursdays and Fridays. Our open-plan offices have height-adjustable desks, conference rooms, phone booths, well-stocked kitchens full of snacks and drinks and more.

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.

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.