Backend Engineer, Consumer Products

at OpenAI

📍 San Francisco, United States

USD 325,000 per year

SENIOR

✅ Hybrid

✅ Relocation

Used Tools & Technologies

Not specified

Required Skills & Competences
Tag name is followed by "@" symbol and proficiency level value. About proficiency levels:

1-2 — basic awareness. Minimal hands-on experience, and a rudimentary understanding of the technology's purpose;

3-6 — daily use. Comfortable and regular usage, capable of handling common tasks and challenges related to the technology;

7-9 — you are an expert, you can teach others, you know all the pitfalls and tricks;

10 — exceptional knowledge, comprehensive understanding, and adeptness in all aspects of the technology, including advanced problem-solving. Think twice before claiming or demanding such level.

Security @ 7 Go @ 6 Python @ 6 Distributed Systems @ 4 Performance Optimization @ 7 API @ 4

Details

The Software Engineering team designs and builds scalable, performant, and secure backend systems that power consumer products from prototypes to large-scale deployments. This role involves designing and building services, APIs, and infrastructure with end-to-end context (hardware to cloud) to guide technical decisions that best serve the product and team. The role is based in San Francisco, CA and uses a hybrid work model (four days in the office per week). Relocation assistance is offered to new employees.

Responsibilities

Architect, build, and maintain high-performance, secure backend systems.
Design APIs, data models, and infrastructure to support evolving product needs.
Balance near-term development velocity with long-term maintainability and scalability.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams (product, hardware, full-stack) to ensure cohesive, end-to-end solutions.

Requirements

7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on backend systems.
Proven track record of building and scaling systems from early stage to large scale.
Proficiency with Python and Go.
Strong grasp of system design, performance optimization, and security best practices.
Ability to reason about full-stack tradeoffs from hardware through cloud infrastructure.

Nice to have:

Experience with distributed systems and cloud architectures.
Background in instrumentation, analytics, and performance tuning.
Familiarity with hardware-cloud integrations or applied AI services.

Benefits

Base pay (listed): $325,000; offers equity and additional compensation components (performance-related bonuses for eligible employees).
Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer HSA contributions.
Pre-tax accounts (Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter accounts).
401(k) with employer match.
Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave; PTO and paid company holidays.
Mental health and wellness support; employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
Annual learning and development stipend.
Daily meals in offices and meal delivery credits as eligible.
Relocation support for eligible employees.

Additional Info

The company is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.
Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law for US-based candidates.