Actuator Design Engineer

OpenAI; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco, CA, is seeking a Senior Actuator Design and Integration Engineer to lead the development of custom electromechanical actuators for advanced robotic systems. You will own architecture, design, and integration from concept through prototype validation, collaborating with mechanical, electrical, controls, firmware, and manufacturing teams to deliver scalable actuator solutions.

This role emphasizes precision assemblies, torque density, thermal management, backdrivability,

Qualifications

• Experience in design of precision electromechanical assemblies.
• Ability to lead architecture and trade studies for actuator systems.
• Collaborative work with mechanical, electrical, controls and firmware teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, design and integration of custom robotic actuators.
• Define requirements for torque density, bandwidth, efficiency and thermal performance.
• Drive integration with actuators, sensing, packaging and mechanical interfaces.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure manufacturability and reliability.

Skills

Actuator design

System integration

Thermal management

Job description

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Actuator Design and Integration Engineer to lead the development of custom electromechanical actuators for advanced robotic systems. You will own actuator development from early architecture and concept generation through prototype validation and system integration, partnering closely with mechanical, electrical, controls, firmware, reliability, and manufacturing teams. This role focuses on the design, integration, and validation of precision electromechanical systems, including motors, transmissions, sensing, structural components, and thermal architectures. You will help drive actuator development across the full engineering lifecycle while establishing scalable design, test, and integration practices for future robotic platforms. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person presence 4 days a week. In this role, you will Lead the architecture, design, and integration of custom robotic actuators, including motors, transmissions, sensing, thermal systems, structural components, and packaging. Define actuator requirements and system-level trade studies around torque density, bandwidth, efficiency, thermal performance, backdrivability, inertia, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Design precision electromechanical assemblies with strong attention to tolerances, alignment, load paths, thermal expansion, sealing, wear, and serviceability. Drive actuator integration into robotic systems, partnering closely with controls, firmware, electrical, and robotics software teams to optimize closed-loop pe