The Industrial Security team enables OpenAI's classified and national security work by building secure, compliant programs.
Within Industrial Security, the Personnel Security function ensures employees have the clearances, accesses, briefings, and government approvals required to support classified programs.
Works closely with employees, program teams, government customers, and partners across Security, People, Recruiting, Legal, IT, and Facilities.
About the Role
As a Personnel Security Specialist, you will own the day-to-day personnel security operations that allow OpenAI employees to support classified government work.
Manage clearance and access requests, maintain government-system records, coordinate visits and briefings, support onboarding and offboarding.
Hands-on security professional who can independently manage a high-volume operational queue.
Responsibilities
Own the daily personnel security workload from intake through completion, including clearance verification, access nominations, visit requests, onboarding, offboarding, briefings, and reporting actions.
Process and track personnel eligibility, classified access, indoctrinations, debriefings, customer approvals, and other program-specific security requirements.
Maintain accurate, current, and audit-ready records in DISS, NBIS/eApp, NISS, internal tracking systems, and other applicable government or customer platforms.
Guide employees through security forms, clearance and access requirements, required briefings, and reportable events.
Coordinate personnel security actions with government security representatives, customer security offices, program teams, and internal partners.
Prepare and manage visit authorization requests, security access requests, and related customer access packages, including CAC, NIPR, SIPR, and SAAR documentation.
Maintain clear visibility into case ownership, status, deadlines, next steps, and dependencies.
Develop and improve checklists, standard operating procedures, templates, metrics, and workflows.
Support self-inspections, customer reviews, recurring reporting.
Requirements
Hands-on personnel security experience supporting a cleared defense contractor, Intelligence Community organization, federal customer, or comparable classified environment.
Directly managed clearance verification, access processing, indoctrinations, debriefings, visit requests, security briefings, and onboarding or offboarding for cleared personnel.
Working experience with DISS and NBIS/eApp; familiarity with NISS, SWFT, Scattered Castles, or customer-specific security systems is a plus.
Understand the NISPOM, applicable Security Executive Agent Directives, and government or customer personnel security requirements.
Highly organized and can manage competing priorities, sensitive records, recurring deadlines, and a high-volume case queue.
Communicate clearly and respectfully.
Demonstrate discretion with personal information and sound judgment.
Look for practical ways to improve operational reliability through documentation, metrics, templates, and approved AI tools.
Experience supporting SCI or SAP access, customer-specific nominations, visit authorization requests, or related access packages.
Hold active Top Secret eligibility and current SCI access, and can obtain and maintain any customer-required polygraph or additional access approvals.
Conditions
Based in San Francisco, CA, or Washington, DC. Hybrid work model of three days in the office per week. Relocation assistance offered. Additional onsite presence and occasional travel may be required.