Lead Industrial Designer, Robotics

Details

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve people’s lives.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. This role will be expected to be in office 4 days per week and offers relocation assistance to new employees.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve the visual identity, form language, and design principles of robotic products and supporting hardware systems.
• Create sketches, renderings, digital concepts, and physical prototypes to communicate design intent and explore new product directions.
• Develop production-intent surface geometry and digital assets that can be integrated directly into engineering CAD workflows.
• Partner closely with product, engineering, and leadership teams to translate product goals into compelling physical designs.
• Drive industrial design decisions across the product development lifecycle, balancing aesthetics, functionality, manufacturability, and system constraints.
• Collaborate with mechanical engineers to ensure design intent is preserved throughout development and manufacturing.
• Conduct design reviews and provide feedback on proportion, surface quality, form, fit-and-finish, and overall product experience.
• Support rapid concept exploration and iteration through physical and digital prototyping.
• Establish and maintain design standards, workflows, and best practices for industrial design and surface development.
• Help define the long-term design vision for future robotic products and hardware platforms.

Requirements / Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing consumer electronics, robotics products, transportation products, advanced hardware systems, or other highly refined physical products.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating excellence in industrial design, form development, visual storytelling, and physical product execution.
• Experience creating CAD geometry, Class A surfaces, or production-intent digital assets that can be directly consumed by engineering teams.
• Proficiency with industry-standard design and surface development tools such as Alias, NX, Rhino, Blender, Gravity Sketch, or equivalent.
• Experience working closely with hardware engineering teams from concept development through manufacturing.
• Exceptional taste and strong intuition for proportion, form, surface quality, and physical product design.
• Ability to move from ambiguous product concepts to detailed, production-ready design assets and to think systematically about usability and manufacturability.

Benefits

• Competitive base pay (see posted range) plus equity and performance-related bonuses for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental leave and paid medical and caregiver leave.
• Flexible paid time off for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees.
• 13+ paid company holidays and periodic company 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.
• Additional taxable fringe benefits such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.