Forward Deployed Software Engineer - SF

at OpenAI

📍 San Francisco, United States

USD 200,000-310,000 per year

MIDDLE

✅ 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.

MySQL @ 3 Communication @ 6 API @ 3

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, moving from prototype to deployment while shaping platform patterns. This role focuses on building customer-facing, production-grade software that leverages OpenAI’s APIs.

Responsibilities

Embed deeply with strategic customers to understand business challenges and technical requirements.
Design, architect, and develop full‑stack solutions using an experiment-driven, iterative approach.
Prepare detailed scopes of work and project plans for proof-of-concept prototypes and full production deployments.
Work hands-on with customers' technical teams as a technical expert and trusted advisor, coding side-by-side on their infrastructure.
Collaborate closely with Sales, Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architects, Customer Success, Product, Research, and Applied teams to ensure project success and provide actionable product feedback.
Contribute to internal knowledge bases and codify best practices from customer engagements to scale the Forward Deployed Engineering function.

Requirements

7+ years of professional full-stack engineering experience (excluding internships) in relevant roles at tech and product-driven companies; customer-facing experience is highly desirable.
Experience designing and architecting full-stack solutions and deploying them to production.
Experience with relational databases such as Postgres and MySQL.
Comfortable working iteratively with customers and delivering practical solutions in customer environments.
Strong collaboration and communication skills for cross-functional work with Product, Research, GTM, and customer teams.
Willingness to travel up to 50%.

Location & Work Model

This role is based in San Francisco, United States.
Hybrid work model: 3 days in the office per week.
Relocation assistance is offered for eligible candidates.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary range: $200,000 - $310,000 per year. Offers equity and additional compensation components may apply.
Benefits include medical/dental/vision insurance, employer contributions to HSAs, 401(k) with employer match, paid parental leave, PTO, paid company holidays, mental health support, learning & development stipend, daily meals in offices, and other fringe benefits.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI emphasizes safety and diverse perspectives and is an equal opportunity employer. Background checks and reasonable accommodation policies are described in the posting.