Forward Deployed Software Engineer - SF

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.