Forecasting ML Scientist: Real-Time Production-Ready

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 385,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a senior Machine Learning Data Scientist in San Francisco to lead forecasting initiatives. You will build scalable, production-ready forecasting systems powering DAU/WAU, revenue, LTV, and profitability.

As a founding member of the Forecasting pillar within Strategic Finance Data Science, you will collaborate with product, engineering, and finance leaders to operationalize insights and shape company-wide strategy.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in a quantitative field (e.g., Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Operations Research).
• 7+ years of experience in applied data science, with deep hands-on exposure to forecasting, predictive modeling, or marketplace systems.
• Expertise in time-series forecasting techniques and practical understanding of model trade-offs across performance, explainability, and scalability.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and tools such as scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and forecasting libraries.
• Demonstrated experience with model monitoring, debugging, and long-term maintenance in production environments.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills - able to simplify complexity and influence executive stakeholders.
• Self-directed, intellectually curious, and comfortable leading ambiguous projects from 0→1.

Responsibilities

• Build statistical and machine learning models to solve forecasting needs across product, finance, infrastructure, and GTM domains.
• Own the end-to-end modeling lifecycle, including scoping, feature engineering, model development and prototyping, experimentation, deployment, monitoring, and explainability.
• Develop and productionize scalable, interpretable forecasts for user growth, monetization, compute load, customer lifetime value, and profitability.
• Contribute to self-service forecasting tools and internal platforms, enabling teams across OpenAI to access and act on real-time predictions.
• Research and evaluate emerging tools and techniques in the forecasting space, such as TimeGPT, large language model extensions, causal forecasting, and hybrid approaches.
• Drive strategic insight generation by translating technical outputs into business-aligned recommendations and decision frameworks.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure forecasts are well-integrated into planning processes, experimentation workflows, and executive decision-making.

Skills

Forecasting

Time-series

Model monitoring

Communication

Self-directed

Education

MS or PhD in Statistics/CS/Economics/OR

Tools

Python

SQL

scikit-learn

PyTorch/TensorFlow

Forecasting libraries

Job description

OpenAI is seeking a senior Machine Learning Data Scientist in San Francisco to lead forecasting initiatives. You will build scalable, production-ready forecasting systems powering DAU/WAU, revenue, LTV, and profitability.

As a founding member of the Forecasting pillar within Strategic Finance Data Science, you will collaborate with product, engineering, and finance leaders to operationalize insights and shape company-wide strategy.