Software Engineer, Discovery Engineering at OpenAI

San Francisco, California, United States

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$325,000 – $405,000Compensation

Senior (5 to 8 years)Experience Level

Full TimeJob Type

UnknownVisa

Artificial Intelligence, TechnologyIndustries

Requirements

Hands-on experience building or operating large-scale data-lake or backup systems (Azure, AWS, GCP)
Knowledge of Terraform or Pulumi, CI/CD, and the ability to turn ad-hoc legal requests into repeatable pipelines
Comfort working with discovery workflows (legal holds, enterprise document collections, secure review) or eagerness to build expertise quickly
Ability to communicate technical concepts – from storage governance to block-ID APIs – clearly to teams such as Legal, Engineering, and others
Experience shipping secure solutions that balance speed, cost, and evidentiary defensibility – and the ability to articulate the trade-offs
Communicate crisply, document rigorously, and enjoy working across disciplines under tight deadlines

Responsibilities

Design and operate data storage pipelines that can operate at scale
Build search & discovery services (e.g., Spark/Databricks, index layers, metadata catalogs) based on the needs of partner teams
Automate secure data transfers – encrypting, checksumming, and auditing exports to reviewers
Stand up locked-down compute environments that balance usability with security controls
Instrument monitoring and KPIs that maintain accountability of data holds and productions
Collaborate cross-functionally to codify SOPs, threat models, and chain-of-custody documentation that withstand scrutiny

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

SparkDatabricksTerraformPulumiCI/CDAzureAWSGCP

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the salary range for this Software Engineer position?

The salary range is $325K - $405K.

Is this role remote or hybrid, and where is it located?

This is a hybrid position located in San Francisco, with relocation assistance offered.

What key skills are required for this role?

Required skills include hands-on experience with large-scale data-lake or backup systems on Azure, AWS, or GCP; knowledge of Terraform or Pulumi, CI/CD; and experience with discovery workflows or secure solutions.

What is the team structure and collaboration like at OpenAI for this role?

You'll collaborate daily with Legal, Security, IT, and partner engineering teams as part of OpenAI’s Privacy Engineering team, working cross-functionally under tight deadlines.

What makes a strong candidate for this Software Engineer role?

Strong candidates have hands-on experience with large-scale data systems, infrastructure tools like Terraform or Pulumi, the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical teams, and comfort with secure discovery workflows under tight deadlines.

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