OpenAI

Manager, Revenue Accounting, Technical (Strategic Commercial Deals)

OpenAI$130K — $155K *
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of technical revenue accounting or advisory experience, particularly with ASC 606 expertise.
  • Experience with deal-desk functions supporting strategic commercial deals end to end.
  • Ability to craft and pressure-test complex revenue models and influence commercial strategies.
  • Familiarity with emerging monetization models like advertising revenue and multi-sided ecosystems is advantageous.
  • Strong grasp of principal-versus-agent analysis and performance obligation assessments.
  • Proven track record in driving cross-functional launch readiness and resolving operational issues.
  • Effective communication skills to articulate complex accounting issues to varied stakeholders.
  • Management experience with multiple strategic deals and mentoring others is valued.
  • CPA preferred, with a background in Big 4 or tech industry in high-growth settings.

Responsibilities

  • Own the technical revenue workstream for strategic commercial deals from concept to ongoing governance.
  • Build and evaluate revenue models for diverse commercial agreements, ensuring compliance with accounting standards.
  • Collaborate with various teams to shape deal economics, pricing, and operational design from proposal to launch.
  • Analyze complex transactions under ASC 606 and escalate judgments when necessary.
  • Translate technical outcomes into actionable contract terms and decision-making processes.
  • Design end-to-end revenue models with operational requirements and collaborate on building effective processes.
  • Lead the launch readiness for strategic deals, ensuring systems and data align with approved structures and addressing post-launch issues.
  • Develop internal materials and improve execution processes for consistent delivery of strategic deals.

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model with 3 days in the office per week.
  • Relocation assistance for new employees.
  • Opportunities for mentoring and professional development.
  • Engagement in innovative and high-impact projects within the AI field.
  • Cross-functional collaboration with diverse teams and subject matter experts.
Full Job Description
About the Role

We're looking for a Manager of Revenue Accounting, Technical to drive the end-to-end technical revenue and operational workstream for OpenAI's strategic commercial deals-from early structuring and deal-desk review through contracting, launch, and ongoing governance.

Reporting to the Head of Revenue Accounting, Technical, you will serve as a key revenue advisor for complex and non-standard strategic deals, translating commercial objectives into revenue models that are economically sound, accounting-compliant, and operationally executable. You will partner with senior team members on the most novel or high-risk matters across strategic collaborations, cloud marketplaces, platform and distribution deals, licensing and revenue-share models, joint go-to-market initiatives, research collaborations, and other emerging commercial structures.

You will engage from the earliest stages of a deal to shape economics, pricing, commercial terms, contract language, and product design; define the supporting data, billing, settlement, reporting, systems, controls, and revenue-recognition model; and drive cross-functional readiness through launch. After launch, you will help govern amendments, monitor whether the model is operating as intended, resolve execution issues, and evolve the approach as the partnership or business model changes.

This role requires strong technical accounting judgment, commercial fluency, clear cross-functional communication, and the ability to independently drive complex workstreams while knowing when to seek input or escalate.

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 the day-to-day technical revenue workstream for a portfolio of strategic commercial deals from initial concept and term-sheet development through contracting, launch readiness, post-launch changes, and ongoing governance.
  • Build and pressure-test revenue models for strategic collaborations, cloud marketplaces, platform and distribution deals, licensing and revenue-share arrangements, and other emerging commercial models, including pricing, minimum commitments, incentives, credits, variable consideration, usage mechanics, and settlement flows.
  • Partner through the deal-desk process with Strategic Partnerships, Product, GTM, Strategic Finance, Legal, GTM Deal Desk, Tax, Finance Systems, and Revenue Operations to shape deal economics, pricing, contract terms, product configuration, and operational design from initial proposal through approval and launch.
  • Assist senior team members in evaluating complex transactions under ASC 606, including principal-versus-agent considerations, gross-versus-net presentation, performance obligations, variable consideration, contract combinations, commitments, credits, incentives, and related-party considerations, escalating precedent-setting judgments for senior review.
  • Translate technical conclusions into required commercial and contract terms, practical deal-desk guidance, approval guardrails, and clear intake, escalation, and decision-making processes for material deals, amendments, and renewals.
  • Design revenue models end to end by defining the contracting, product, data, order-to-cash, usage, billing, invoicing, settlement, reconciliation, reporting, systems, and control requirements needed to operate them; partner with operational teams to build, test, document, and scale the resulting processes.
  • Lead cross-functional launch readiness for strategic deals, validate that systems, data, billing, reporting, and controls reflect the approved structure, and help resolve post-launch issues, amendments, or changes in actual deal economics.
  • Develop clear internal decision materials and operating requirements, coordinate concurrent deal workstreams, and improve the playbooks, templates, and guidance that make strategic-deal execution more consistent and scalable.


You might thrive in this role if you have:
  • 5+ years of technical revenue accounting or related advisory experience, with strong ASC 606 expertise and experience independently owning complex analyses and workstreams.
  • Experience working in or closely with a deal-desk function to support strategic commercial deals end to end, including complex collaborations, cloud marketplaces, platform distribution, licensing, revenue-share models, or other multi-party transactions.
  • Demonstrated ability to craft and pressure-test revenue models, influence commercial strategy, pricing, product design, and contract terms, and translate the agreed structure into executable operational flows.
  • Experience navigating emerging monetization models such as advertising revenue, marketplaces/commerce platforms, or other multi-sided ecosystems is a strong plus.
  • Strong working knowledge of principal-versus-agent analysis, gross-versus-net presentation, variable consideration, consideration payable to a customer, contract combinations, and complex performance-obligation assessments.
  • Experience driving cross-functional launch readiness, validating systems and operational processes, and resolving post-launch issues for complex or unfamiliar revenue models.
  • Experience translating evolving commercial structures into operational revenue models spanning contracting, product setup, usage data, billing, settlement, accounting, reconciliation, reporting, systems, and controls.
  • Sound commercial judgment and strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex accounting issues and practical trade-offs to accounting and non-accounting stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated success managing multiple strategic deals from intake through launch and ongoing governance, improving repeatable processes, and operating effectively in ambiguous, rapidly changing environments; experience mentoring others is valued.
  • CPA preferred; a mix of Big 4 (or accounting advisory), commercial deal support, and technology industry experience in high-growth environments is highly valued.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company was founded in 2015 by a group of technology leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and John Schulman. OpenAI's mission is to develop and promote friendly AI for the betterment of humanity. The company has developed a number of cutting-edge AI technologies, including GPT-3, a language processing system that can generate human-like text. OpenAI has received funding from a number of high-profile investors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Learn more about OpenAI
Size
100 employees
Industry
Founded
2015

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