Software Engineer, Privacy Engineering (Lawful Access)

Details

The Privacy Engineering team builds secure, reliable systems that help OpenAI meet its legal obligations while protecting user data. The team partners with Legal and Engineering teams across OpenAI to support lawful data access requests and other critical legal workflows. Its work turns complex, high-stakes processes into auditable and dependable technical systems with clear human oversight and strong privacy and security controls.

The role involves building internal tools and data pipelines that power lawful data access request workflows and Legal Operations. The engineer will work across product and data systems to make authorized retrieval and case handling accurate, efficient, and auditable. This role is suited to someone who enjoys translating ambiguous operational requirements into durable systems, cares deeply about sensitive-data handling, and wants to improve technical reliability and the experience of people operating these workflows.

The role is based in San Francisco, California, with additional locations under consideration in London, United Kingdom, and Dublin, Ireland. OpenAI uses a hybrid work model requiring three days in the office per week.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate backend systems and workflow tooling for the full lifecycle of lawful data access requests, from intake and scoping through authorized retrieval, review, preparation, and audit.
• Build reliable data pipelines and interfaces across products and data stores so authorized teams can locate and handle the right records accurately and reproducibly.
• Implement least-privilege access, approval gates, provenance, audit trails, data minimization, and safe failure modes for sensitive workflows.
• Partner with Legal and Legal Operations to translate legal and operational requirements into clear technical designs and intuitive operator experiences.
• Identify responsible automation opportunities that reduce repetitive work while preserving human review, judgment, and accountability.
• Own production systems through testing, observability, incident response, documentation, and continuous reliability improvements.
• Help define the architecture and roadmap for reusable privacy and legal-infrastructure foundations as OpenAI’s products and obligations evolve.

Requirements

• Experience building or operating systems for lawful data access requests, with an understanding of the domain’s legal-process lifecycle, privacy and security constraints, auditability requirements, and operational sensitivities.
• Strong backend engineering fundamentals and experience building production services or data-intensive systems.
• Ability to reason carefully about correctness, authorization, security, and privacy when working with sensitive data.
• A track record of turning ambiguous requirements into pragmatic plans and communicating technical tradeoffs clearly.
• End-to-end ownership, including operating what you build, and comfort learning unfamiliar products and domains.
• Care for operator experience and a drive to make complex workflows safer, clearer, and more efficient.
• Experience collaborating across Engineering, Legal, Operations, Privacy, and Security stakeholders.

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 does not discriminate on the basis of legally protected characteristics. Background checks will be administered in accordance with applicable law. OpenAI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary: $293,000–$405,000 per year.
• Equity, performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and benefits.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for health and dependent care expenses and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, paid company holidays, office closures, and paid sick or safe time as required by law.
• Mental health and wellness support.
• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage.
• Annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily office meals and eligible meal delivery credits.
• Relocation support for eligible employees.
• Additional taxable fringe benefits may be provided, including charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.