AI Hardware Systems Software Engineer

Visa Hunt; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking an experienced systems software engineer to define and build the host software stack for our AI hardware systems. You will work close to the hardware on performance-critical software, including Linux kernel drivers, high-throughput I/O paths, and system-scale networking and RDMA.

This role spans architecture, implementation, platform bring-up, debugging, and performance optimization. You will collaborate across hardware and software boundaries to deliver end-to-end usability

Qualifications

• Extensive experience building low-level or performance-critical systems software.
• Strong C/C++ skills with Python and Linux tooling for automation and debugging.
• Solid Linux fundamentals and ability to debug across hardware and software boundaries.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and debug host-side systems software for AI infrastructure, including Linux kernel drivers and supporting userspace components.
• Build and optimize software paths for high-throughput, low-latency communication, including RDMA and related networking functionality.
• Develop software around PCIe, DMA, NICs, accelerators, memory movement, and device interaction.
• Bring up new hardware platforms and diagnose complex issues across kernel, firmware, networking, and hardware boundaries.
• Build tooling for integration, testing, diagnostics, observability, qualification, and performance characterization.
• Collaborate with hardware, networking, and platform teams to define interfaces and integrate new capabilities.
• Work with external vendors where needed to integrate technologies and drive issues to resolution.
• Contribute across the systems software stack as the platform and team evolve.
• Help shape the technical direction and engineering practices for a growing systems software stack.

Skills

C/C++ proficiency

Python

Linux tooling

Performance-critical software

Linux kernel debugging

System software design

Networking (RDMA)

Tools

Linux kernel drivers

Kernel networking

RDMA

PCIe

DMA

NIC software

Accelerator software

High-performance I/O

Job description

OpenAI is seeking an experienced systems software engineer to define and build the host software stack for our AI hardware systems. You will work close to the hardware on performance-critical software, including Linux kernel drivers, high-throughput I/O paths, and system-scale networking and RDMA.

This role spans architecture, implementation, platform bring-up, debugging, and performance optimization. You will collaborate across hardware and software boundaries to deliver end-to-end usability