Forward Deployed Software Engineer - Seattle

OpenAI; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI seeks customer-focused software engineers to design and deliver custom solutions using our APIs. As a Forward Deployed SWE, you will work with customers and internal teams to architect scalable solutions, drive delivery, and provide technical leadership across engagements.

The role involves deep collaboration with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success, and requires hands-on coding with customer teams.

Qualifications

• Experience building production software
• Strong API design and integration skills
• Ability to work with customer teams and translate needs into technical solutions

Responsibilities

• Embed with strategic customers to understand business challenges and technical requirements
• Design, architect and develop full-stack solutions using API-driven approaches
• Prepare scopes of work and project plans for proofs-of-concept and deployments
• Collaborate with Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Customer Success to ensure smooth delivery and feedback

Skills

Customer-focused engineering

Full-stack development

API integration

Cross-team collaboration

Job description

About the team

OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems. We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development.

About the Role

We are looking for customer-focused software engineers to build effective custom software that leverages OpenAI’s APIs to solve real customer problems. As an FDSWE, you will work with our customers and OpenAI Forward Deployed Engineers to design and implement scalable solutions that solve their most difficult problems. You will design abstractions to solve customer problems, and then use them to scale our speed and quality of delivery across all Forward Deployed engagements. You will collaborate closely with Sales, Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architects, and Customer Success Managers who work on the same account. You will also work with our Research and Applied Product and Engineering teams to provide insightful customer feedback. This role is based in Seattle. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week. We offer relocation assistance. Travel up to 50% is required. In this role, you will: Embed deeply with strategic customers to understand their business challenges and technical requirements in detail. Design, architect, and develop full-stack solutions using an experiment-driven, iterative approach. Prepare detailed scopes of work and project plans for both proof-of-concept prototypes and full production deployments. Work hands-on with customers' technical teams as a technical expert and trusted advisor, coding side-by-side to drive projects to completion on their infrastructure. Collaborate with Product, Research and Applied teams to ensure seamless customer experiences, project success and actionable product feedback Contribute to internal knowledge bases, codifying best practices and sharing insights gained from customer engagements to scale the Forward Deployed Engineering function. You’ll thrive in this rol