OpenAI· Hardware· San Francisco
Software Engineer, Hardware
Comp$225K – $455K
Classified Tasks (11)
Automate 0%Augment 91%Human-Only 9%
Augment (10)
AI assists, human decides
Build and optimize the low-level stack that orchestrates computation and data movement across supercomputing clusters.
technical
Design and implement APIs and runtime components to orchestrate computation and data movement across heterogeneous ML workloads.
technical
Design and implement high-performance runtimes tailored to evolving hardware.
technical
Contribute to compiler infrastructure by developing optimizations and compiler passes to support new hardware.
technical
Engineer and optimize compute and data kernels to ensure correctness, high performance, and portability across simulation and production environments.
technical
Profile systems and optimize bottlenecks in I/O, memory hierarchy, and interconnects at both local and distributed scales.
analytical
Develop scalable simulation infrastructure to validate runtime behaviors, test training stack changes, and support early-stage hardware and system development.
technical
Rapidly deploy runtime and compiler updates to new supercomputing builds in close collaboration with hardware and research teams.
operational
Work across a diverse software stack using Rust and Python to implement, maintain, and debug runtime and compiler components.
technical
Build custom kernels and accelerator-focused code to support distributed training workloads.
technical
Human-Only (1)
Requires human judgment
Collaborate across systems programming, ML infrastructure, and high-performance computing teams to influence architecture decisions across the training framework.
leadership
Job description
Software Engineer, Hardware | OpenAI Careers ## Software Engineer, Hardware Hardware - San Francisco Apply now(opens in a new window) ### **About the Team** OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops silicon and system-level solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team is responsible for building the next generation of AI-native silicon while working closely with software and research partners to co-design hardware tightly integrated with AI models. In addition to delivering production-grade silicon for OpenAI’s supercomputing infrastructure, the team also creates custom design tools and methodologies that accelerate innovation and enable hardware optimized specifically for AI. ### **About the Role** As a software engineer on the Scaling team, you’ll help build and optimize the low-level stack that orchestrates computation and data movement across OpenAI’s supercomputing clusters. Your work will involve designing high-performance runtimes, building custom kernels, contributing to compiler infrastructure, and developing scalable simulation systems to validate and optimize distributed training workloads. You will work at the intersection of systems programming, ML infrastructure, and high-performance computing, helping to create both ergonomic developer APIs and highly efficient runtime systems. This means balancing ease of use and introspection with the need for stability and performance on our evolving hardware fleet. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, with a hybrid work model (3 days/week in-office). Relocation assistance is available. ### **In this role, you will:** * Design and build APIs and runtime components to orchestrate computation and data movement across heterogeneous ML workloads. * Contribute to compiler infrastructure, including the development of optimizations and compiler passes to support evolving hardware. * Engineer and optimize compute and data kernels, ensuring correctness, high performance, and portability across simulation and production environments. * Profile and optimize system bottlenecks, especially around I/O, memory hierarchy, and interconnects, at both local and distributed scales. * Develop simulation infrastructure to validate runtime behaviors, test training stack changes, and support early-stage hardware and system development. * Rapidly deploy runtime and compiler updates to new supercomputing builds in close collaboration with hardware and research teams. * Work across a diverse stack, primarily using Rust and Python, with opportunities to influence architecture decisions across the training framework. ### **You might thrive in this role if you:** * Have a deep curiosity for how large-scale systems work and enjoy making them faster, simpler, and more reliable. * Are proficient in systems programming (e.g., Rust, C++) and scripting languages like Python. * Have experience in one or more of the following areas: compiler development, kernel authoring, accelerator programming, runtime systems, distributed systems, or high-performance simulation. * Are excited to work in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment with evolving hardware and ML system demands. * Value engineering excellence, technical leadership, and thoughtful system design. **About OpenAI** OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orient