Senior Backend Engineer for API Agents & Orchestration

OpenAI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 266,000 - 445,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health insurance

401(k)

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking an experienced backend software engineer to build core systems powering next-generation agents in San Francisco. You will design reliable services and abstractions that help agents access context, use tools, retain knowledge, and execute safely across long-running workflows.

This role blends backend engineering with product judgment and cross-team collaboration. You will design, build, and operate the shared agent harness and backend infrastructure, create reusable capabilities

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional backend engineering experience.
• Exceptional backend fundamentals and leadership of complex systems.
• Proficiency in one or more backend languages (Python, Go, Rust, TypeScript).
• Strong systems design and operational judgment for distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate backend infrastructure powering long-running workflows.
• Develop reusable capabilities across search, context, memory, tool execution, and multi-agent orchestration.
• Ensure safe production operation with secure execution environments, identity, observability, and reliability.
• Collaborate with Research, Codex, infra, and product teams to translate research progress into production primitives.

Skills

Backend engineering

Systems design

Distributed systems

Backend languages

Ownership & accountability

Developer empathy

Security & reliability

Tools

Tools & infra knowledge

Job description

OpenAI is seeking an experienced backend software engineer to build core systems powering next-generation agents in San Francisco. You will design reliable services and abstractions that help agents access context, use tools, retain knowledge, and execute safely across long-running workflows.

This role blends backend engineering with product judgment and cross-team collaboration. You will design, build, and operate the shared agent harness and backend infrastructure, create reusable capabilities