Backend Engineer — Scalable AI Knowledge Systems

OpenAI; California (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to architect and scale the infrastructure powering our knowledge systems. You will build robust backend services and APIs, enabling intelligent automation and data workflows across OpenAI products.

In this role, you will design and implement distributed systems, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and own the full development lifecycle from prototyping to production, with a focus on maintainability and scale.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of backend engineering experience at product-driven companies.
• Proficiency in Python, FastAPI, and Postgres.
• Experience designing and scaling distributed systems and APIs.
• Interest in knowledge representation or AI workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs to support intelligent automation and knowledge systems.
• Integrate and structure data across internal platforms for AI workflows.
• Collaborate with product, research, and engineering teams to integrate OpenAI models.
• Own the full development lifecycle of new backend systems and internal platform capabilities.
• Build with scale and maintainability in mind, while iterating on new ideas.

Skills

Distributed systems

APIs design

Data pipelines

Backend engineering

Tools

Python

FastAPI

Postgres

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a Backend Software Engineer to architect and scale the infrastructure powering our knowledge systems. You will build robust backend services and APIs, enabling intelligent automation and data workflows across OpenAI products.

In this role, you will design and implement distributed systems, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and own the full development lifecycle from prototyping to production, with a focus on maintainability and scale.