Capacity Systems Software Engineer

Details

OpenAI's Industrial Compute organization plans, delivers, operates, and optimizes the compute infrastructure that powers frontier AI. The Capacity Systems team builds the software platforms, data systems, and automation frameworks that connect capacity planning, fleet operations, product demand, and financial planning into a shared operating model.

This role is based in San Francisco and follows OpenAI's hybrid work model of 3 days per week in the office.

Responsibilities

• Design and build software systems that serve as the system of record for Industrial Compute planning and operations.
• Develop backend services, APIs, workflows, and data platforms that support capacity forecasting, allocation, deployment readiness, and operational planning.
• Build applications that connect infrastructure delivery, fleet health, capacity utilization, product demand, and financial planning into a shared operational view.
• Build planning and scenario-modeling systems that help leaders understand tradeoffs across capacity, utilization, cost, reliability, launch timing, and business impact.
• Create workflow automation and decision-support tooling that improves planning accuracy and reduces operational overhead.
• Partner with Capacity Planning, Fleet Operations, Product, Finance, Infrastructure Engineering, Supply Chain, and Strategic Sourcing teams to understand operational workflows and translate them into software systems.
• Drive architecture decisions across planning platforms, operational tooling, and internal infrastructure systems.
• Improve data quality, observability, and operational visibility across Industrial Compute programs.
• Build extensible software foundations that scale alongside OpenAI's rapidly growing infrastructure footprint.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure engineering, or related technical disciplines.
• Strong programming experience in Python, Go, Java, TypeScript, or similar languages.
• Experience building distributed systems, backend services, internal platforms, workflow systems, or operational tooling.
• Experience designing APIs, data pipelines, and integrations across multiple systems.
• Strong system design and software architecture skills.
• Experience working with large operational datasets and business-critical workflows.
• Ability to operate effectively in highly cross-functional environments and translate ambiguous operational challenges into scalable technical solutions.
• Strong ownership mindset and ability to independently drive complex projects.

Preferred Skills

• Experience building planning systems, forecasting platforms, optimization engines, or decision-support tools.
• Experience with SQL, data warehouses, orchestration frameworks, analytics platforms, and distributed data systems.
• Experience supporting infrastructure, cloud platforms, data centers, hardware deployment programs, or large-scale operational environments.
• Familiarity with capacity planning, supply chain systems, financial modeling, or infrastructure operations.
• Experience replacing spreadsheet-driven workflows with scalable software platforms.
• Experience building systems that support scenario planning, forecasting, optimization, or resource allocation.
• Familiarity with AI infrastructure, hyperscale compute environments, or large-scale distributed systems.

About the Team

Industrial Compute coordinates infrastructure strategy, capacity planning, provider partnerships, fleet operations, product demand, and financial planning for OpenAI's compute footprint. The Capacity Systems team transforms fragmented planning workflows into scalable systems that enable visibility, automation, and decision support across OpenAI's global compute footprint.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary range: $125,000 - $228,000 per year. Offers equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts (Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter accounts).
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental leave and paid medical/caregiver leave.
• Flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees.
• 13+ paid company holidays and additional coordinated office closures.
• 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.