Software Engineer, Caching Infrastructure at OpenAI

San Francisco, California, United States

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$255,000 – $405,000Compensation

Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Technology, Artificial IntelligenceIndustries

Requirements

5+ years of experience building and scaling distributed systems, with a strong focus on caching, load balancing, or storage systems
Deep expertise with Redis, Memcached, or similar solutions, including clustering, durability configurations, client-side connection patterns, and performance tuning
Production experience with Kubernetes, service meshes (e.g., Envoy), and autoscaling systems
Rigorous thinking about latency, reliability, throughput, and cost in designing platform capabilities
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and balance pragmatic engineering with long-term technical excellence

Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate OpenAI’s multi-tenant caching platform used across inference, identity, quota, and product experiences
Define the long-term vision and roadmap for caching as a core infra capability, balancing performance, durability, and cost
Collaborate with other infra teams (e.g., networking, observability, databases) and product teams to ensure our caching platform meets their needs

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

RedisMemcachedKubernetesEnvoydistributed systemsload balancingautoscalingnetworkingservice meshesperformance tuning

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the salary range for the Software Engineer, Caching Infrastructure role?

The salary range is $255K - $405K.

Is this position remote or does it require office work?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What skills and experience are required for this role?

Candidates need 5+ years building and scaling distributed systems focused on caching, load balancing, or storage; deep expertise with Redis, Memcached or similar including clustering and performance tuning; and production experience with Kubernetes, service meshes like Envoy, and autoscaling systems.

What is the team culture like at OpenAI's Caching Infrastructure team?

The team builds a high-availability, multi-tenant cache platform that scales automatically, minimizes tail latency, and supports diverse use cases in a fast-paced environment, balancing pragmatic engineering with long-term technical excellence.

What makes a candidate thrive in this Software Engineer role?

Ideal candidates have deep experience in distributed caching systems like Redis or Memcached, networking fundamentals, Kubernetes-based orchestration, and think rigorously about latency, reliability, throughput, and cost.

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