Software Engineer, Data Infrastructure - Research at OpenAI

San Francisco, California, United States

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$250,000 – $380,000Compensation

Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

AI, Machine LearningIndustries

Requirements

Strong engineering fundamentals with experience in distributed systems, data pipelines, or infrastructure
Experience building APIs, modular code, and scalable abstractions, with a focus on users and UX in abstraction design
Comfortable debugging bottlenecks across large fleets of machines
Pride in building infrastructure that “just works,” with a focus on reliability and scale
Collaborative, humble, and excited to own a foundational part of the ML stack
(Bonus) Background knowledge in data math, probability, or distributed data theory
(Bonus) Experience with GPU-scale distributed systems or dataset scaling for real-time data

Responsibilities

Design and maintain standardized dataset APIs, including for multimodal (MM) data that cannot fit in memory
Build proactive testing and scale validation pipelines for dataset loading at GPU scale
Collaborate with teammates to integrate datasets seamlessly into training and inference pipelines, ensuring smooth adoption and a great user experience
Document and maintain dataset interfaces so they are discoverable, consistent, and easy for other teams to adopt
Establish safeguards and validation systems to ensure datasets remain reproducible and unchanged once standardized
Debug and resolve performance bottlenecks in distributed dataset loading (e.g., straggler systems slowing global training)
Provide visualization and inspection tools to surface errors, bugs, or bottlenecks in datasets

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

distributed systemsdataset APIsGPU scalingmultimodal dataperformance optimizationtraining pipelinesinference pipelinesproactive testingdebugging bottlenecksvisualization toolspipeline integration

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the salary range for this Software Engineer position?

The salary range is $250K - $380K.

Is this a remote position or does it require office work?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What skills are required for this role?

Strong engineering fundamentals with experience in distributed systems, data pipelines, or infrastructure are required, along with building APIs, modular code, scalable abstractions, and debugging bottlenecks across large fleets.

What is the team culture like at OpenAI's Workload team?

The Workload team focuses on designing and running OpenAI’s LLM training and inference infrastructure at massive scale, valuing collaboration, humility, reliability, and ensuring researchers can focus on advancing models while handling scale and efficiency.

What makes a strong candidate for this position?

Candidates thrive with strong engineering fundamentals in distributed systems or data pipelines, experience building scalable APIs with great UX, comfort debugging large fleets, and a collaborative, humble approach to reliable infrastructure; bonus for GPU-scale systems or data theory knowledge.

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