Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices

OpenAI; United States; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a Firmware Engineer to design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices. You’ll own low-level bring-up, write production C/C++ code, and partner closely with hardware teams to deliver reliable, high-performance systems.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, with a hybrid work model (four days in the office per week) and relocation assistance for new employees.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience shipping embedded systems.
• Proficiency in C and C++.
• Familiar with embedded toolchains, operating systems, and debugging tools.
• Experience with rapid prototyping and scalable product development.
• Nice to have: Zephyr RTOS experience.
• Nice to have: Networking/Wi‑Fi (BLE/Wi‑Fi) experience.
• Nice to have: Linux kernel development.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices.
• Define software requirements, interfaces, and test plans.
• Bring up and debug new boards.
• Analyze performance, memory, and power profiles and implement optimizations.
• Investigate field issues, perform root-cause analysis, and deliver robust fixes.
• Foster good software engineering practices.

Skills

Embedded systems

C/C++

Debugging

Performance optimization

Tools

Zephyr RTOS

Linux kernel development

Embedded toolchains

Network stacks (BLE/Wi‑Fi)

Job description

About the Team

The Software Engineering Firmware team builds reliable, high-performance systems on custom hardware. We work closely with hardware engineers to design, optimize, and ship software that bridges cutting-edge devices and real-world constraints like memory, power, and latency. Our work spans early prototyping through product launch, ensuring that our embedded platforms are robust, efficient, and production-ready.

About the Role

As a Firmware Engineer , you will design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices. You’ll own low-level bring-up, write production C/C++ code, and partner closely with hardware teams to deliver reliable, high-performance systems. We’re looking for engineers with deep embedded expertise, strong debugging skills, and a passion for building systems that perform under real-world conditions. This role is based in San Francisco, CA . We use a hybrid work model of four days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In this role, you will:

• Design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices.
• Contribute to defining software requirements, interfaces, and test plans.
• Bring up and debug new boards.
• Analyze performance, memory, and power profiles and implement optimizations.
• Investigate field issues, perform root-cause analysis, and deliver robust fixes.
• Foster good software engineering practices.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have deep experience shipping embedded systems (around 10+ years).
• Are proficient in C and C++.
• Are familiar with embedded toolchains, operating systems, and debugging tools.
• Have experience with both rapid prototyping and scalable product development.
• (Nice to have) Have experience with Zephyr RTOS.
• (Nice to have) Have worked with networking/wireless stacks (BLE, Wi-Fi).
• (Nice to have) Have experience with Linux kernel development.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefit