OpenAI Seeks Head of Preparedness as AI Risks Move Center Stage

As artificial intelligence systems grow more capable, the conversation around AI safety is shifting from abstract ethics to operational reality. OpenAI is now signalling that shift clearly by opening one of its most consequential senior roles yet.

The company is hiring a Head of Preparedness, a leadership position tasked with identifying, evaluating, and mitigating risks emerging from its most advanced AI models. The role comes with an annual compensation of up to $555,000 plus equity, underlining how central safety has become to the next phase of AI deployment.

The position will sit within OpenAI’s Safety Systems team, which oversees how frontier models are tested before public release. Based in San Francisco, the role reflects OpenAI’s growing emphasis on proactive risk management as AI capabilities begin to intersect more directly with cybersecurity, mental health, and critical infrastructure.

We are hiring a Head of Preparedness. This is a critical role at an important time; models are improving quickly and are now capable of many great things, but they are also starting to present some real challenges. The potential impact of models on mental health was something we…

— Sam Altman (@sama) December 27, 2025

From Capability Growth to Risk Readiness

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the role as essential at a time when model capabilities are accelerating faster than existing safety frameworks.

“We are hiring a Head of Preparedness. This is a critical role at an important time; models are improving quickly and are now capable of many great things, but they are also starting to present some real challenges.”

According to the job description, the Head of Preparedness will lead OpenAI’s preparedness framework, building structured evaluations that stress-test AI models across multiple risk domains. This includes creating threat models, coordinating mitigations, and ensuring safety processes can scale alongside rapid model development cycles.

The mandate is clear: move beyond high-level guardrails to measurable, repeatable systems that can anticipate misuse before it happens.

AI Safety Moves Into Operational Reality

The opening comes amid heightened global scrutiny of AI platforms. OpenAI’s systems, including ChatGPT, have faced allegations of unintended harm, intensifying calls for stronger accountability and oversight across the industry.

Altman acknowledged that OpenAI is entering less-charted territory. “We have a strong foundation of measuring growing capabilities, but we are entering a world where we need more nuanced understanding and measurement of how those capabilities could be abused.”

This reflects a broader industry shift. AI safety is no longer just about preventing obvious misuse. It now includes second-order risks, such as how models might be exploited in cybersecurity attacks, influence mental health outcomes, or surface vulnerabilities faster than defenders can respond.

Preparedness as a Stress Test for AI Governance

Unlike traditional security roles, the Head of Preparedness will operate across product, research, and policy boundaries. The job calls for deep expertise in machine learning, AI safety, and threat modelling, combined with the ability to communicate risk trade-offs clearly across teams.

OpenAI notes that the role will involve evaluating risks tied to emerging areas such as autonomous systems, cybersecurity tooling, and biological research capabilities, domains where misuse could have tangible real-world consequences. “These questions are hard, and there is little precedent; a lot of ideas that sound good have some real edge cases.”

Altman did not downplay the intensity of the role. “This will be a stressful job, and you'll jump into the deep end pretty much immediately.”

That candor reflects the reality facing AI companies in 2026. As models edge closer to autonomous reasoning and self-improving capabilities, preparedness is becoming a defining competitive and regulatory differentiator, not a side function.

For enterprises watching closely, OpenAI’s move sends a clear signal: the next phase of AI leadership will be defined not just by performance benchmarks, but by how seriously companies invest in anticipating and containing unintended consequences.