Research Engineer, Human-Centered AI

Details

About the team

OpenAI researches methods to ensure AI systems are safe, trustworthy, useful, and aligned with human values as capabilities scale. The team focuses on leveraging high-quality human and synthetic data to train and evaluate models, developing scalable methods for generating high-quality data, and centering humans by creating mechanisms and interfaces that let humans express intent and supervise AIs, including in adversarial or high-stakes settings.

Responsibilities

• Research and model mechanisms that create value for people, emphasizing explaining or predicting preferences, behaviors, and satisfaction.
• Quantify nuances of human behavior and capture them in data-driven systems by designing advanced labeling tasks or analyzing user feedback patterns.
• Design robust evaluations for measuring alignment and real-world utility; iterate quickly to determine what feedback and training protocols are most effective.
• Design and evaluate new Human–AI interaction paradigms and scalable oversight methods that redefine how humans interact with, understand, and supervise models.
• Develop and evaluate alignment capabilities that are subjective, context-dependent, and hard to measure.

Requirements / Qualifications

• Strong machine learning engineering skills and research experience.
• Experience with machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch) and comfort experimenting with large-scale models.
• Ability to move between high-level research questions and low-level implementation details and adapt methods for ambiguous, dynamic problems.
• Interest or background in cognitive science, computational linguistics, human-computer interaction, or social sciences.
• Motivation to work on systems that balance breakthrough capabilities with robust alignment and to contribute to OpenAI's mission.
• Comfort working in fast-paced, collaborative research environments.

Benefits & Compensation

• Base salary range: $310K - $380K (compensation may vary depending on location, experience, and other individualized factors). Total compensation may include equity and performance-related bonuses for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts (Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, commuter expenses), 401(k) with employer match.
• Paid parental leave and paid medical/caregiver leave; flexible PTO and paid company holidays.
• 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.

Other notes

• OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.
• Background checks will be administered in accordance with applicable law.