Network Infrastructure Engineer (AI)

Location: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

Salary: $347K–$445K per year, plus equity and potential performance-related bonuses.

Company

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

What you will do

• Design, deploy, activate, and support WAN infrastructure across data centers, network PoPs, and cloud connectivity environments.
• Own end-to-end network circuit turn-up with fiber carriers and cloud service providers, including connectivity validation.
• Troubleshoot physical, Layer 2, and Layer 3 issues such as optical signal problems, FEC errors, routing issues, and connectivity failures.
• Design physical network infrastructure, including port mappings, fiber and cable layouts, optical distribution frames, and connectivity plans.
• Monitor network health, utilization, capacity, and reliability risks while building automation for provisioning, validation, troubleshooting, and operations.
• Collaborate with internal infrastructure teams and external providers, support global backbone expansion, and participate in an on-call rotation.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience deploying, activating, and troubleshooting WAN circuits with telecommunications carriers, fiber providers, or cloud service providers.
• Strong understanding of optical networking, Ethernet, TCP/IP, BGP, and Layer 2/3 connectivity.
• Experience debugging network issues from physical fiber and optical errors through routing and traffic forwarding.
• Experience with data center networking, carrier infrastructure, cloud interconnects, or large-scale WAN environments.
• Understanding of fiber cabling, port mappings, optical distribution frames, and network equipment connectivity.
• Ability to investigate ambiguous connectivity problems, isolate root causes, and coordinate resolution across internal and external teams.
• Experience with scripting or automation tools and a motivation to reduce manual work through scalable processes.
• Ability to own technical problems from initial deployment through operational resolution and work effectively in a rapidly evolving infrastructure environment.

Nice to have

• Experience with large-scale backbone networks, hyperscale data centers, or cloud provider interconnect infrastructure.
• Familiarity with optical transport technologies, network telemetry, and advanced physical-link troubleshooting.
• Experience automating network operations with Python, Go, or infrastructure automation frameworks.
• Experience deploying network PoPs or supporting large-scale network expansion projects.
• Experience collaborating with carriers, colocation providers, and cloud networking teams.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work with a hands-on infrastructure focus and participation in an on-call rotation.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, with employer HSA contributions and FSA options.
• 401(k) plan with employer match, paid parental, medical, caregiver, sick, and safe leave.
• Flexible or paid time off, paid holidays, office closures, and mental health and wellness support.
• Annual learning and development stipend, office meals, eligible meal-delivery credits, and relocation support for eligible employees.
• Employment is at-will; compensation may vary based on market location, skills, experience, performance, team or company results, and market conditions.