Research Engineer / Scientist, Safety Oversight

Details

The Safety Systems team is responsible for various safety work to ensure OpenAI's best models can be safely deployed to the real world. The Safety Oversight Research team advances capabilities to maintain oversight over frontier AI models and develops model- and system-level methods to identify and mitigate AI misuse and misalignment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine AI monitor models to detect and mitigate known and emerging patterns of misuse and misalignment.
• Set research directions and strategies to make AI systems safer, more aligned, and more robust.
• Evaluate and design effective red-teaming pipelines to examine end-to-end robustness of safety systems and identify areas for improvement.
• Conduct research to improve models' ability to reason about questions of human values and apply these models to practical safety challenges.
• Coordinate and collaborate with cross-functional teams (trust & safety, legal, policy, other research teams) to ensure products meet high safety standards.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in AI safety research (experience areas called out include RLHF, human-AI collaboration, fairness & biases).
• 4+ years of research engineering experience; proficiency in Python or similar languages.
• Ph.D. or other advanced degree in computer science, machine learning, or a related field.
• Experience working with large-scale AI systems.
• Strong commitment to AI safety and alignment; alignment with OpenAI's mission and charter is emphasized.
• Ability to thrive in cross-functional environments and coordinate with legal, policy, and safety teams.

Benefits & Compensation

• Base salary range: $310,000 - $460,000 (may vary by market 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 benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents; up to 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), paid medical and caregiver leave.
• Flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees.
• 13+ paid company holidays and periodic company office closures; paid sick/safe time as required by law.
• 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 (charitable donation matching, wellness stipends).

Additional Notes

• Background checks are administered consistent with applicable law. The posting references compliance with San Francisco and California fair chance ordinances where applicable.
• OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.