Site Reliability Engineer, Frontier Systems Infrastructure at OpenAI

San Francisco, California, United States

OpenAI Logo
$255,000 – $490,000Compensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Technology, AI, High Performance ComputingIndustries

Requirements

  • Deep experience operating or scaling Kubernetes clusters or similar container orchestration systems in high-growth or hyperscale environments
  • Strong programming or scripting skills (Python, Go, or similar) and familiarity with Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation
  • Comfortable with bare-metal Linux environments, GPU hardware, and large-scale networking
  • Experience as an infrastructure, systems, or distributed systems engineer in large-scale or high-availability environments
  • Strong knowledge of Kubernetes internals, cluster scaling patterns, and containerized workloads
  • Proficiency in cloud infrastructure concepts (compute, networking, storage, security) and in automating cluster or data center operations
  • Ability to enjoy solving fast-moving, high-impact operational problems and building automation to eliminate manual work
  • Ability to balance careful engineering with the urgency of keeping mission-critical systems running
  • Expected to execute at the same level as a software engineer

Responsibilities

  • Spin up and scale large Kubernetes clusters, including automation for provisioning, bootstrapping, and cluster lifecycle management
  • Build software abstractions that unify multiple clusters and present a seamless interface to training workloads
  • Own node bring-up from bare metal through firmware upgrades, ensuring fast, repeatable deployment at massive scale
  • Improve operational metrics such as reducing cluster restart times (e.g., from hours to minutes) and accelerating firmware or OS upgrade cycles
  • Integrate networking and hardware health systems to deliver end-to-end reliability across servers, switches, and data center infrastructure
  • Develop monitoring and observability systems to detect issues early and keep clusters stable under extreme load
  • Manage fast-moving operations, quickly diagnose and fix issues when things are on fire, and continuously raise the bar for automation and uptime

Skills

Kubernetes
Distributed Systems
Bare Metal Provisioning
Automation
Firmware Upgrades
Monitoring
Observability
Networking
Infrastructure
Linux
Cluster Management
Software Abstractions

OpenAI

Develops safe and beneficial AI technologies

About OpenAI

OpenAI develops and deploys artificial intelligence technologies aimed at benefiting humanity. The company creates advanced AI models capable of performing various tasks, such as automating processes and enhancing creativity. OpenAI's products, like Sora, allow users to generate videos from text descriptions, showcasing the versatility of its AI applications. Unlike many competitors, OpenAI operates under a capped profit model, which limits the profits it can make and ensures that excess earnings are redistributed to maximize the social benefits of AI. This commitment to safety and ethical considerations is central to its mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) serves all of humanity.

San Francisco, CaliforniaHeadquarters
2015Year Founded
$18,433.2MTotal Funding
LATE_VCCompany Stage
AI & Machine LearningIndustries
1,001-5,000Employees

Benefits

Health insurance
Dental and vision insurance
Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care
Mental healthcare service
Fertility treatment coverage
401(k) with generous matching
20-week paid parental leave
Life insurance (complimentary)
AD&D insurance (complimentary)
Short-term/long-term disability insurance (complimentary)
Optional buy-up life insurance
Flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off (we encourage 4+ weeks per year)
Annual learning & development stipend
Regular team happy hours and outings
Daily catered lunch and dinner
Travel to domestic conferences

Risks

Elon Musk's legal battle may pose financial and reputational challenges for OpenAI.
Customizable ChatGPT personas could lead to privacy and ethical concerns.
Competitors like Anthropic raising capital may intensify market competition.

Differentiation

OpenAI's capped profit model prioritizes ethical AI development over unlimited profit.
OpenAI's AI models, like Sora, offer unique video creation from text descriptions.
OpenAI's focus on AGI aims to create AI systems smarter than humans.

Upsides

OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding boosts its AI research and computational capacity.
Customizable ChatGPT personas enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
OpenAI's 'Operator' AI agent could revolutionize workforce automation by 2025.

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