Software Engineer, Hardware

Details

About the Team

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops silicon and system-level solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team builds AI-native silicon and creates custom design tools and methodologies that accelerate innovation and enable hardware optimized specifically for AI. The team delivers production-grade silicon for OpenAI’s supercomputing infrastructure and works closely with software and research partners to co-design hardware tightly integrated with AI models.

About the Role

As a software engineer on the Scaling team, you will help build and optimize the low-level stack that orchestrates computation and data movement across OpenAI’s supercomputing clusters. Work includes designing high-performance runtimes, building custom kernels, contributing to compiler infrastructure, and developing scalable simulation systems to validate and optimize distributed training workloads. This role sits at the intersection of systems programming, ML infrastructure, and high-performance computing, balancing ergonomic developer APIs and highly efficient runtime systems.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, with a hybrid work model (3 days/week in-office). Relocation assistance is available.

Responsibilities

• Design and build APIs and runtime components to orchestrate computation and data movement across heterogeneous ML workloads.
• Contribute to compiler infrastructure, including development of optimizations and compiler passes to support evolving hardware.
• Engineer and optimize compute and data kernels, ensuring correctness, high performance, and portability across simulation and production environments.
• Profile and optimize system bottlenecks, especially around I/O, memory hierarchy, and interconnects, at both local and distributed scales.
• Develop simulation infrastructure to validate runtime behaviors, test training stack changes, and support early-stage hardware and system development.
• Rapidly deploy runtime and compiler updates to new supercomputing builds in close collaboration with hardware and research teams.
• Work across a diverse stack, primarily using Rust and Python, with opportunities to influence architecture decisions across the training framework.

Requirements

• Proficiency in systems programming (examples called out: Rust, C++) and scripting languages like Python.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas: compiler development, kernel authoring, accelerator programming, runtime systems, distributed systems, or high-performance simulation.
• Strong curiosity about large-scale systems, with interest in performance, reliability, and system design.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where hardware and ML system demands evolve rapidly.
• Commitment to engineering excellence, technical leadership, and thoughtful system design.

Benefits

• Base pay range listed separately; total compensation includes equity and potential performance-related bonus(es).
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts: Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expense accounts (parking and transit).
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks birth parents, 20 weeks non-birthing), 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 coordinated office closures; paid sick or safe time per applicable 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) may be provided.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to inclusive hiring practices. Background checks will be administered in accordance with applicable law. Reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities are available upon request.