IT Software Architect, SaaS Enablement and Governance

About the Team

The SaaS and Software Governance team sits within Corporate IT and helps OpenAI scale from startup-speed tooling to mature enterprise architecture. The team owns practical governance for software SaaS integrations APIs identity data access and agent-enabled workflows with a mandate to improve security reduce software sprawl and help business teams move faster through better foundations.

About the Team

OpenAI is scaling from an emerging high-velocity startup into a mature enterprise operating model. The IT Software Architect will help shape the software SaaS Data integration and agent-enabled architecture that lets the company move quickly while improving security compliance data quality and customer partner and employee experience.

This role is not a traditional ivory-tower architecture function. It is a hands-on governance and enablement role that partners with business teams IT operations Security Procurement Business Platforms Applied teams and Data Engineering to guide software decisions reduce unmanaged sprawl and build reusable enterprise foundations.

Why This Role Matters

OpenAIs software footprint is expanding rapidly across SaaS internally built tools agents integrations APIs third-party platforms and application systems that OpenAI. The company needs a stronger tools architecture layer that can help teams make good decisions early avoid duplicate tools govern sensitive data and identities and identify where OpenAI should build instead of buy.

The person in this role will help turn software governance from an approval checkpoint into an enterprise capability: a system that improves speed reliability security and business outcomes.

What Youll Do

• Own the target architecture for enterprise software SaaS integrations APIs and agent-enabled business systems across Corporate IT. Drive deprecation and consolidate targets for enterprise software.

• Build lightweight governance patterns that guide teams before software and integration decisions become hard to unwind.

• Create architecture standards for identity access data movement API usage admin rights auditability observability and vendor integration.

• Partner with Security to ensure software architecture addresses SSO SCIM MFA privileged access non-human identities secrets token storage data residency encryption retention and incident response readiness.

• Partner with Procurement and Finance to evaluate renewals rationalization opportunities enterprise agreements and build-versus-buy decisions.

• Partner deeply with application verticals such as GTM Finance Legal HR Research Product and Operations teams to evaluate agentic business workflows and translate them into scalable enterprise system patterns.

• Review proposed SaaS and internally built tools for overlap risk integration quality ownership lifecycle supportability and long-term fit.

• Develop reusable architecture blueprints for common capabilities such as intake workflow approvals knowledge management customer/partner 360 data integration reporting content management learning surveys and collaboration.

• Help define where OpenAI-native GPT or agent-built solutions should replace or enable point SaaS tools.

• Create clear decision records and architecture artifacts that are understandable by business leaders engineers security reviewers and procurement partners.

• Drive software catalog maturity by connecting tool inventory business owner system owner integration path data classification access model renewal risk posture and support model.

Core Architecture Domains

• SaaS governance and software catalog maturity

• Enterprise integration architecture including APIs event flows middleware and system-of-record boundaries

• Identity access and admin model design across internal and external users

• Data architecture for SaaS customer supplier employee partner product consumption and connected business models.

• Agentic workflow architecture and GPT-built replacement patterns

• Vendor architecture reviews and enterprise agreement leverage across strategic platforms.

• Security compliance ITGC audit evidence and operational readiness

• Support model design ownership SLAs escalation paths and lifecycle management

What Youll Bring

• 10 years of experience in enterprise architecture business systems architecture IT architecture SaaS governance integration architecture or a related technical leadership role.

• Strong understanding of SaaS operating models software lifecycle management software asset management and vendor/platform governance.

• Experience designing integrations across systems experience in large scale SaaS such as CRM ERP and Marketplace platforms.

• Practical knowledge of identity and access patterns including SSO OIDC SAML SCIM RBAC/ABAC privileged admin models service accounts OAuth apps and token governance.

• Ability to evaluate software from multiple angles: business value architecture fit security posture data exposure cost supportability user experience and vendor strategy.

• Comfort operating in ambiguity building structure where little exists and influencing senior stakeholders without relying only on formal authority.

• Ability to write clear architecture decision records governance standards system diagrams business cases and executive-ready recommendations.

• Strong partner orientation: able to help teams move faster while raising the quality of decisions.

• Curiosity about AI-native enterprise architecture and where GPT Codex and agentic workflows can replace or enable traditional SaaS patterns.

Preferred Experience

• Experience scaling IT or business systems from startup-stage tooling into mature enterprise architecture.

• Experience with software rationalization SaaS enablement and deprecation vendor consolidation or enterprise license optimization.

• Experience with architecting systems in a high-growth environment.

• Experience building governance for internally developed tools low-code/no-code platforms agents or employee-built automation.

• Experience working closely with Security GRC Legal Procurement and Finance on cross-functional risk and control programs.

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 OpenAIs 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 addition job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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