Electrical Engineer (AI Robotics)

Location: San Francisco, United States

Base salary: $318K–$485K per year, plus equity, performance-related bonuses for eligible employees, and benefits.

Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company developing general-purpose artificial intelligence and robotics systems with a focus on safety and human benefit.

What you will do

• Own compute hardware architecture and development from component selection and schematic design through PCB layout, validation, and deployment.
• Design and integrate high-speed PCIe, DDR, Ethernet, MIPI, USB, and DisplayPort interfaces while balancing bandwidth, connectivity, power, and signal integrity.
• Develop onboard DC-to-DC conversion and power distribution systems meeting efficiency, transient-response, sequencing, and power-integrity requirements.
• Define HDI PCB stackups, dielectric materials, via structures, and routing strategies for electrical performance, manufacturability, reliability, and cost.
• Lead bench bring-up and validation, including test planning, interface characterization, power measurements, and root-cause debugging.
• Collaborate with thermal, mechanical, EMC, and software teams to integrate compute hardware into tightly constrained humanoid robotic systems.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience developing compute hardware or similarly complex high-speed electronics, with ownership of complete designs.
• Strong hands-on measurement and debugging skills, including practical experience with oscilloscopes, probing techniques, and interface validation.
• Deep understanding of high-speed digital interfaces and the ability to make architectural tradeoffs and diagnose issues across hardware and software boundaries.
• Strong signal-integrity and power-integrity fundamentals, a solid foundation in power electronics, and practical experience designing complex HDI PCBs.
• Ability to use a Linux shell, write simple shell scripts, connect over SSH, and perform basic Ethernet and network troubleshooting.
• Ability to take initiative, turn ambiguous requirements into concrete engineering plans, and follow through to deliver working systems.

Nice to have

• Experience designing around AI inference SoCs or accelerators, including power, memory, and communication architectures.
• Familiarity with mapping AI inference workloads to silicon capabilities, including TOPS, DRAM bandwidth and capacity, workload requirements, DRAM technology choices, performance, and performance per watt.
• Experience bringing compute hardware into production and resolving fabrication, assembly, or test issues with manufacturing partners.

Culture & Benefits

• Full-time employment with medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and families, with employer HSA contributions.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, pre-tax FSA and commuter accounts, paid parental, medical, caregiver, sick, and safe leave.
• Flexible paid time off for exempt employees, up to 15 annual days for non-exempt employees, paid holidays, and coordinated company office closures.
• Mental health and wellness support, employer-paid life and disability coverage, and an annual learning and development stipend.
• Daily office meals, eligible meal delivery credits, relocation support for eligible employees, charitable donation matching, and wellness stipends.

Hiring process

• Additional benefits details are provided during the hiring process.
• Background checks are administered in accordance with applicable law for US-based candidates.