Account Associate, Japan
OpenAIRole Description & Requirements
About the Team
OpenAI’s Enterprise Go-To-Market organization helps the world’s largest companies adopt and scale our AI platform across their business, from ChatGPT Enterprise to our developer and APIs.
We partner with organizations across Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Retail to build new AI-powered customer experiences, transform operations, and reimagine how work gets done in highly regulated and technically complex environments. As adoption accelerates through pilots, experimentation, and develop-led use cases, the GTM team turns that momentum into durable, enterprise-wide deployments.
About the Role
We are looking for a senior, high-agency Account Associate to help build and scale our Japan Strategic & Large Enterprise, DNB and Startup motion. This person should be able to create pipeline through thoughtful outbound, strong discovery, disciplined follow-up, and clear stakeholder mapping. This is not a junior execution role. It is a front-line role for someone who can help shape the motion while working closely with Account Directors, technical teams, and HQ.
At the same time, this role is designed as a launchpad for future sellers at OpenAI. It’s a highly strategic position with meaningful exposure to enterprise sales, product, and customer strategy. You’ll build core skills in discovery, stakeholder mapping, deal shaping, and executive communication, while developing a deep understanding of how leading companies adopt AI.
Recommended Seniority
7-10 years of total work experience
3-5+ years of relevant experience in SDR, BDR, inside sales, startup sales, enterprise/commercial AE, or similar GTM roles
Some closing or full-cycle sales experience is strongly preferred
We’re looking for individuals with 6+ years of total work experience who are motivated to grow into world-class enterprise sellers over time. Many people in this role go on to become Account Directors or take on broader GTM roles, but progression is based on performance and business needs rather than a fixed timeline.
In this role, you’ll identify, shape, and advance complex enterprise opportunities by turning product usage, pilots, and inbound demand into qualified, high-conviction opportunities for our Enterprise and Strategic Accounts teams.
For the right person, this is one of the most accelerated paths to break into sales at OpenAI and build a long-term career in AI go-to-market.
In this role, you will:
Run high-quality outbound motions tailored to Japan Strategic & Large Enterprise, DNB and Startup accounts
Turn product usage, inbound interest, pilot activity, and outbound efforts into qualified pipeline
Partner with Account Directors on account strategy, multi-threading, and deal progression
Lead high-quality discovery to uncover business priorities, map stakeholders, and assess enterprise readiness
Contribute to pipeline reviews by sharing outbound activity, account insights, and early competitive signals
Build and iterate on AI-enabled GTM workflows (GPTs/Agents) to scale prospecting and qualification
Provide local market feedback to HQ and help improve playbooks for Japan
Must-Have Qualifications
Native or near-native Japanese, with strong business communication skills
Business-level English, with the ability to work effectively with HQ and cross-functional teams
Strong track record in B2B SaaS, technology sales development, startup sales, or similar roles
Proven ability to generate pipeline through outbound prospecting and inbound qualification
Strong discovery skills, follow-up discipline, and stakeholder mapping ability
Comfortable speaking with technical buyers such as Product, Engineering, IT, Data, or Security stakeholders
High ownership, strong judgment, and comfort operating in an ambiguous and fast-moving environment
Preferred Qualifications
7-10 years of total work experience
3-5+ years of relevant experience in SDR, BDR, inside sales, startup sales, enterprise/commercial AD, or similar GTM roles
Some closing or full-cycle sales experience is strongly preferred
Can build trust quickly with Japanese customers
Experience in startup or high-growth environments selling into regulated or complex industries (Financial Services, Life Sciences, Retail)
Some closing or full-cycle sales experience and a track record of consistently hitting and exceeding ambitious targets
Experience selling API, developer tools, cloud, data, security, or other technical products
Strong hands-on experience using AI, with a deep interest in the landscape and the ability to translate OpenAI products into clear, tangible business value for customers
You’re comfortable with ambiguity, moving quickly, and operating well with a high degree of ownership
Can act as a strong bridge between Japan market needs and HQ
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 OpenAI’s 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 information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.
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