Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Legal - New York City

Details

OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems. The team embeds deeply with users to solve high-leverage problems, rapidly moving from prototype to deployment while surfacing patterns that shape the platform. It operates at the intersection of customer delivery and core development, working closely with Product, Research, and Go-To-Market (GTM).

The role focuses on building and deploying AI systems for legal work. You will work closely with customers, often senior legal practitioners, to identify initial use cases, rapidly prototype solutions, and demonstrate measurable value. Early engagements may include creating workflows that show how OpenAI’s models can support legal analysis, drafting, research, or real-time work with complex case records.

You will own technical work from discovery and proof of concept through production adoption, translate customer workflows and constraints into product feedback, and turn successful deployments into repeatable patterns that can scale across larger accounts and the legal market.

The role is based in San Francisco or New York City. OpenAI uses a hybrid work model requiring three days in the office per week. Travel of up to 50% may be required.

Responsibilities

• Embed with law firms and legal teams to understand workflows, identify high-value opportunities, and select initial use cases to prove value.
• Build full-stack systems that deliver customer value and improve learning.
• Work closely with customer teams, understand their needs, and guide adoption of deployed systems.
• Make trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality, adjusting plans to protect delivery.
• Contribute directly to the code when progress or clarity depends on it.
• Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, or reusable building blocks.
• Share field feedback with Research and Product to help them understand where models succeed and where they can improve.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering, machine learning engineering, or technical deployment experience with customer-facing ownership in financial services or adjacent regulated industries.
• Experience with legal technology, legal services, compliance-heavy workflows, or professional services is helpful but not required.
• Experience owning complex AI or data-driven systems end-to-end, from scoping through production adoption, in environments where errors carry significant financial or regulatory consequences.
• Ability to write and review production-grade code across backend and frontend systems using Python, JavaScript, or comparable technologies.
• Experience deploying systems powered by large language models or generative models, with an understanding of how model behavior, evaluation, and guardrails affect user trust and business outcomes.
• Clear communication across engineering, product, risk, compliance, and executive stakeholders, including the ability to translate technical trade-offs into decision quality and risk posture.
• Systems-thinking approach and high execution standards, including the ability to turn incidents, escalations, and failures into improved operating standards and repeatable deployment patterns.
• Ability to remain calm and decisive when delivery is urgent, ambiguous, and high-stakes.

Benefits

• Base salary of $162,000-$280,000 per year, plus equity.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for health, dependent care, and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and paid sick or safe time as required by law.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily office meals and eligible meal delivery credits.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.
• Additional benefits may include charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.