Host Systems Software Engineer

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco is seeking an experienced systems software engineer to define and build host software for next-generation AI systems. This role focuses on low-level device interfaces and system optimization across hardware and software boundaries.

Ideal candidates have strong skills in C and C++, coupled with hands-on experience in systems software development. You will collaborate with various teams to integrate new platforms and technologies, contributing significantly to AI infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Experience building low-level or performance-critical systems software.
• Strong programming skills in C or C++, proficiency using Python.
• Ability to debug across hardware and software boundaries.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and debug host-side systems software.
• Build and optimize software paths for low-latency communication.
• Bring up new hardware platforms and diagnose complex issues.

Skills

C programming

C++ programming

Linux system debugging

Performance-critical systems software

Cross-functional communication

Tools

Python

Linux tooling

Job description

About the Team

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops custom silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team works across hardware, systems architecture, and software to build infrastructure that enables high-performance, AI-native computing at scale. In close partnership with research, software, and external vendors, we bring up new platforms, integrate emerging technologies, and develop the host-side systems software needed to make these systems performant, reliable, and production-ready.

About the Role

We’re looking for an experienced systems software engineer to help define and build the host software stack for our custom next-generation AI 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 work across hardware and software boundaries to make new systems usable end to end, from low-level device interfaces through userspace tooling and production validation.

In this role you will:

• 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.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• Experience building low-level or performance-critical systems software.
• Strong programming skills in C or C++, with proficiency using Python and Linux tooling for automation and debugging.
• Strong Linux systems fundamentals and the ability to debug across hardware and software boundaries.
• Hands‑on experience in at least one relevant area, such as Linux kernel drivers, kernel networking, RDMA, PCIe, DMA, NIC software, accelerator software, or high-performance I/O.
• Experience owning complex software projects from design through implementation, bring‑up, and validation.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, work across subsystem boundaries, and build systems from scratch.
• Strong cross‑functional communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing Linux kernel drivers or other OS-level performance-critical components.
• Familiarity with RDMA or RoCE, ibverbs, kernel networking, or congestion‑control concepts such as ECN and DCQCN.
• Experience with PCIe, DMA, peer‑to‑peer communication, SR‑IOV, IOMMU, dma‑buf, or related accelerator and I/O subsystems.
• Experience bringing up accelerators, NICs, SoCs, or custom hardware platforms.
• Experience profiling and optimizing high-throughput, low-latency systems.
• Familiarity with Rust or experience using Rust for systems programming.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

Background Checks

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates.

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.