Workload Porting & Performance Engineer

Details

OpenAI's Infrastructure organization builds and evaluates systems that power advanced AI workloads. The Scaling team works across hardware, modeling, and architecture to understand workload behavior across evolving hardware platforms and connect theoretical capability with observed system performance.

The role focuses on evaluating new hardware platforms by porting benchmarks and real-world workloads, analyzing performance, identifying system bottlenecks, and adapting workloads to better use hardware capabilities. The position is based in San Francisco, California, follows a hybrid model with three days in the office per week, and offers relocation assistance.

Responsibilities

• Port and enable benchmarks and real-world workloads on new hardware platforms.
• Evaluate system performance across compute, memory, storage, and networking subsystems.
• Identify and analyze performance bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
• Adapt and optimize workloads to better utilize hardware capabilities.
• Develop and run performance experiments and profiling workflows.
• Compare expected and observed performance and provide feedback to hardware architecture, performance modeling, system, and software engineering teams.
• Debug issues across the stack, including software, runtime, and hardware interactions.
• Provide actionable insights to guide platform readiness and deployment decisions.

Requirements

• Experience with performance analysis, benchmarking, or workload optimization.
• Strong understanding of system architecture, including CPU/GPU, memory, and I/O subsystems.
• Experience porting or adapting workloads across different hardware platforms.
• Familiarity with profiling tools and performance debugging techniques.
• Ability to identify root causes of performance issues across hardware and software boundaries.
• Experience working in large-scale or distributed system environments.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with AI/ML workloads, including training or inference systems.
• Familiarity with GPU or accelerator-based systems.
• Experience with low-level performance tools, including profilers, tracing, and microbenchmarks.
• Background in systems software, compilers, or runtime optimization.
• Experience collaborating with hardware and architecture teams on performance validation.

Benefits

• Base salary of $293,000–$385,000 per year.
• Equity and performance-related bonus opportunities for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.
• Pre-tax accounts for health, dependent care, and commuter expenses.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid parental, medical, and caregiver leave.
• Paid time off, company holidays, 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 benefits may include charitable donation matching and wellness stipends.