System Software Engineer, Consumer Products

Details

Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid: 4 days onsite/week). Relocation assistance available.

We build foundational platform software that enables reliable, secure, and performant products. The team works across system layers and partners closely with adjacent engineering groups to deliver robust capabilities from concept through launch.

Role overview

We’re seeking a Systems Software Engineer to design, implement, and debug core platform components and the pipelines that build and update system images. You will work across operating system layers with a focus on performance, security, and deep system debugging to ship production-grade systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and debug system-level components and services across kernel and user space.
• Configure and maintain OS platform services (init, services, networking, security policies) and related tooling.
• Build and operate image and update pipelines, ensuring reliability, reproducibility, and rollback safety.
• Instrument and analyze performance using profiling and tracing; optimize CPU, memory, I/O, and power usage.
• Own platform observability and reliability: logging, crash capture, watchdogs, and diagnostics.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define interfaces and deliver end-to-end features.
• Establish strong engineering practices: code review, CI, reproducible builds, and release management.
• Partner with external suppliers to support builds and deployments.

Requirements

• Experience shipping production systems software on modern operating systems.
• Proficiency in C/C++ and a scripting language; comfortable with OS internals (concurrency, memory management, filesystems, networking, power management).
• Strong systems debugging skills using debuggers, tracers, profilers, and logs across kernel/user-space boundaries.
• Understanding and experience configuring platform services and interfaces, and translating requirements into stable, well-documented APIs.
• Fluency in user-space foundations (service management, IPC, networking, packaging, automation).
• Experience building platform images and designing update mechanisms for reliability and security.

Preferred qualifications

• Exposure to platform security (secure boot, sandboxing, mandatory access controls, attestation).
• Experience with graphics/media, hardware acceleration, or high-throughput data paths.
• Familiarity with connectivity stacks and network configuration.
• Observability and diagnostics experience in distributed or resource-constrained environments.
• Contributions to or work on open-source systems projects.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of AI capabilities and seek to safely deploy them through our products. We are an equal opportunity employer and provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

Benefits

The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition to the salary listed above, total compensation includes equity, potential performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and benefits including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
• Paid parental leave and paid medical/caregiver leave
• Flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
• 13+ paid company holidays and additional office closures
• 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)

More details about benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.