Backend Engineer (AI)

Location: New York City, United States; hybrid

Base salary: $347K–$385K annually, plus equity, performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and benefits.

Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company developing products intended to ensure that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits humanity.

What you will do

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs for the Dots product.
• Develop data models, improve database performance, and build third-party integrations.
• Improve system reliability, security, and observability.
• Write tested, maintainable code and participate in code reviews.
• Investigate production issues, address root causes, and help shape technical decisions as the product grows.
• Collaborate with product, design, and engineering to deliver features from design through production.

Requirements

• Experience building and operating backend applications in production.
• Strong proficiency in a backend programming language.
• Solid understanding of API design, relational databases, and data modeling.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure, automated testing, and deployment workflows.
• Ability to balance speed with quality and make practical technical decisions.
• Clear communication and a collaborative approach to solving problems.

Nice to have

• Experience with distributed systems, background jobs, and event-driven architectures.
• Familiarity with caching, queues, and performance optimization.
• Experience working on a small team or an early-stage product.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work in New York City with relocation support for eligible employees.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts; pre-tax FSA, dependent care, and commuter accounts.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, paid parental, medical, caregiver, sick, and safe leave, paid holidays, and paid time off.
• Mental health and wellness support, employer-paid basic life and disability coverage, and an annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily office meals, eligible meal delivery credits, charitable donation matching, and possible wellness stipends.

Hiring process

• More detailed benefits information is provided during the hiring process.
• Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law.