Tech Stack
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.
AI @ 6
Distributed Systems
Machine Learning
Networking @ 2
Performance Analysis @ 6
Profiling @ 3
System Architecture @ 6
- 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.
Details
About the Team
OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops system and infrastructure solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. We work closely with architecture, infrastructure, and vendor teams to evaluate system performance and guide critical design decisions.
Our team focuses on building and applying performance modeling frameworks to understand system behavior, quantify tradeoffs, and inform next-generation infrastructure design.
About the Role
We are seeking Performance Modeling Engineers to develop and apply modeling tools that evaluate AI system performance and inform architectural decisions.
In this role, you will work closely with the Performance Modeling Lead and partner teams to analyze system behavior, run simulations or analytical models, and help quantify tradeoffs across compute, memory, networking, and storage. You will contribute to building modeling frameworks and applying them to real-world questions that impact system design and vendor decisions.
This role is well-suited for engineers with strong software or modeling backgrounds who are interested in developing deeper expertise in system architecture and AI infrastructure.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain performance modeling tools and frameworks.
- Build models to evaluate system behavior across:
- compute, memory, and interconnect subsystems
- distributed system scaling and bottlenecks.
- Run simulations and analytical models to support architectural tradeoff analysis.
- Collaborate with performance modeling lead and system architects to answer forward-looking design questions.
- Analyze and interpret modeling outputs, translating results into actionable insights.
- Validate models against real system measurements and workload behavior.
- Contribute to improving modeling fidelity, usability, and scalability.
Requirements
- Strong software engineering or modeling background (e.g., simulation, systems modeling, or performance analysis).
- Familiarity with system architecture fundamentals (compute, memory, networking).
- Experience with programming and building technical tools or frameworks.
- Ability to reason about performance bottlenecks and scaling behavior.
- Strong analytical skills and comfort working with quantitative models.
- Ability to collaborate across teams and learn new system domains quickly.
Preferred Skills
- Exposure to AI/ML workloads or distributed systems.
- Experience with simulation tools, performance modeling, or systems analysis.
- Familiarity with data center infrastructure or large-scale systems.
- Experience working with performance data, benchmarking, or profiling tools.
- Interest in system architecture and hardware/software co-design.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
- Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
- 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
- Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
- Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
- 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)
- Mental health and wellness support
- Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
- Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth
- Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
- Relocation support for eligible employees
- Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.
More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.