Deal Operations Specialist, EMEA

About the Role

OpenAI is looking for an experienced senior contributor to accelerate revenue growth throughout the EMEA region by assisting sales teams in structuring and closing financially sound deals. This position requires balancing rapid responsiveness with rigorous pricing discipline and adherence to commercial controls and processes.

In this capacity, you will act as the main Deal Operations liaison for EMEA account teams, overseeing pricing, discounting, and commercial terms related to new business, renewals, and expansions. You will provide sellers with guidance on deal requirements, assess unusual requests, and coordinate necessary approvals to advance deals through contracting and closure stages.

You will also be responsible for creating scalable processes, producing guidance, and developing tools to enhance deal turnaround times, the quality of documentation, and consistency across the region.

This role collaborates closely with teams including Sales, Finance, Legal, Pricing, and Revenue Operations, with involvement from Product and others as needed to address deal challenges and ensure accurate execution from quotes to contracts and bookings.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary Deal Operations contact for EMEA account teams by managing deal submissions, prioritizing requests, and supporting sellers through pricing, review, and approval workflows.
• Perform detailed reviews of quotes and commercial terms—including discounts, payment schedules, contract durations, and customer obligations—to ensure accuracy and compliance with pricing guidelines and commercial policies.
• Conduct financial analysis and build deal models evaluating revenue expectations, margins, discount effects, and profitability; clearly communicate tradeoffs to decision-makers.
• Collaborate with Sales teams to design deal structures that satisfy customer requirements while meeting OpenAI’s commercial goals, proposing alternatives when terms extend beyond guidelines.
• Organize deal review meetings and facilitate necessary approvals across Finance, Legal, Pricing, and Revenue Operations; prepare thorough recommendations, document decisions, and escalate exceptions appropriately.
• Identify risks associated with non-standard contractual terms; work together with Legal and Finance to resolve contractual, billing, and revenue recognition issues prior to deal execution.
• Maintain comprehensive deal records, approval documentation, and alignment of contracts and bookings within CRM, CPQ, and contract management tools by partnering with Revenue Operations.
• Contribute to the development and upkeep of deal approval policies, escalation procedures, pricing guidance, and standardized templates; enhance workflows to mitigate bottlenecks while preserving required controls.
• Provide sellers with practical training and guidance on deal requirements and approval procedures; leverage AI and automation tools to optimize deal intake, knowledge access, and enable self-service support.
• Monitor Deal Desk metrics such as turnaround times, approval delays, exception trends, and quoting accuracy; use recurring patterns to suggest improvements in commercial policies, process workflows, and toolsets.

Candidate Profile

• Minimum of 8 years experience in Deal Desk, commercial finance, pricing, sales operations, or related fields, preferably within fast-growing technology companies.
• Demonstrated hands-on expertise in analyzing and structuring complex enterprise deals, including quoting processes, commercial approvals, and contract management.
• Proficient in financial modeling and analytics with deep understanding of pricing structures, discount evaluations, revenue impacts, margins, and profitability.
• Knowledgeable about enterprise software commercial arrangements and subscription or consumption-based revenue models, with the ability to flag issues necessitating Legal or Finance involvement.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement capabilities to articulate commercial tradeoffs, provide decisive recommendations, and coordinate cross-team approvals effectively.
• Experience working with CRM platforms, configure-price-quote (CPQ) software, contract management systems, along with adeptness in advanced spreadsheet use.
• Meticulous attention to detail coupled with a record of enhancing approval workflows, documentation standards, and operational efficiencies supporting business growth.
• Strong commercial judgment, able to prioritize competing demands and manage tight deadlines without compromising accuracy or controls.
• Collaborative and proactive approach in supporting sales functions; familiarity with applying AI and automation to enhance deal workflows and productivity.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is dedicated to AI research and deployment aimed at ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits humanity as a whole. We pioneer advancements in AI capabilities and strive to safely deliver these technologies. Valuing diverse perspectives and experiences is central to achieving our mission.

As an equal opportunity employer, OpenAI does not discriminate based on protected characteristics and is committed to providing accommodation for applicants with disabilities.

Background checks will be conducted compliantly, with fair consideration of candidates having arrest or conviction records in accordance with applicable laws.

OpenAI is committed to global Applicant Privacy and fair employment practices.