Lead Safety Engineer, Robotics

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

OpenAI is looking for a Lead Robotics Safety Engineer in San Francisco, CA, to define and lead the safety strategy for their robotics program. This role involves close collaboration with various teams to ensure that safety is integrated throughout the product development lifecycle.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in safety standards and completed safety analyses, and will lead efforts to ensure regulatory compliance and product safety. The organization offers relocation assistance, making it easier for new employees to join.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in product safety, functional safety, or robotics safety.
• Experience with safety regulatory frameworks such as ISO 10218, ISO 13849.
• Ability to develop hazard analyses and risk assessments.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the product safety strategy for robotic systems.
• Monitor emerging regulatory frameworks and industry standards.
• Develop and maintain system-level hazard analyses and risk assessments.
• Collaborate with engineering to translate safety requirements into product architecture.
• Lead structured risk assessment processes during product development.

Skills

Product safety expertise

Risk management

Knowledge of regulatory frameworks

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Job description

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting‑edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve people’s lives.

About the Role

We are seeking a Lead Robotics Safety Engineer to define and lead the product safety strategy for our robotics program. You will work closely with leadership, engineering, research, legal, and policy teams to ensure safety is integrated into our products from the earliest stages of development through deployment. You will serve as a subject matter expert on robotics safety standards, regulatory frameworks, and safety engineering practices while helping establish the long‑term safety strategy for our products and organization. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and will be expected to be in the office four days per week. The company offers relocation assistance to new employees.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the product safety strategy for robotic systems across the development lifecycle.
• Monitor and influence emerging regulatory frameworks, industry standards, and policy developments relevant to robotics and autonomous systems.
• Partner with engineering teams to translate safety requirements into product architecture, design decisions, and engineering requirements.
• Develop and maintain system‑level hazard analyses, risk assessments, and safety cases for robotic products.
• Establish safety requirements, verification strategies, and evidence‑generation plans to support product development and future certification activities.
• Collaborate with legal, policy, and leadership teams to assess regulatory risks and inform long‑term product strategy.
• Partner with hardware, software, controls, and research teams to identify hazards and develop mitigations throughout the development process.
• Lead system‑level hazard analyses, HARA activities, FMEAs, and other structured risk assessment processes to identify hazards, evaluate risks, and drive mitigation strategies throughout product development.
• Represent the company in discussions with standards bodies, industry groups, regulators, and external safety experts when appropriate.
• Help build and scale the safety engineering function as the robotics organization grows.

You might thrive in this role if you

• Enjoy applying first‑principles thinking to complex safety and risk management challenges.
• Are comfortable navigating ambiguity where regulations, standards, and technology are evolving simultaneously.
• Can balance technical, regulatory, operational, and business considerations when making recommendations.
• Enjoy working across disciplines and influencing engineering decisions without direct authority.
• Are passionate about building products that are both innovative and demonstrably safe.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep expertise in product safety, functional safety, systems safety, robotics safety, or related disciplines.
• Experience working with safety and regulatory frameworks such as ISO 10218, ISO 13849, IEC 61508, ISO 12100, ANSI/RIA standards, or comparable safety standards.
• Experience developing hazard analyses, risk assessments, safety cases, or certification strategies for complex electromechanical systems.
• Familiarity with robotics, autonomous systems, industrial equipment, consumer products, medical devices, automotive systems, aerospace systems, or other safety‑critical technologies.
• Experience working with regulators, standards organizations, certification bodies, or industry working groups.

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.

Security and Background Checks

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law. 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 unincorporated Los Angeles County workers, we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non‑public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.