Senior Technical Sourcer, Applications Engineering

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is hiring a Senior Technical Sourcer to identify and engage top software engineers and technical talent, helping to build world-class teams supporting our AI research and deployment efforts.

You will lead sourcing across software engineering disciplines, maintain a robust passive candidate network, and partner closely with hiring managers to align on needs and refine strategies for fast-paced growth.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of technical sourcing experience.
• Proven track record in sourcing engineers and technical roles.
• Strong communication of role requirements to candidates.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with internal stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead sourcing strategies across software engineering and related disciplines.
• Build and maintain a passive candidate pipeline through proactive outreach.
• Collaborate with hiring managers to understand needs and refine sourcing.

Skills

Technical sourcing

Engineering hiring

Candidate engagement

Stakeholder collaboration

ATS experience

LinkedIn Recruiter

Tools

LinkedIn Recruiter

Applicant Tracking Systems

Job description

About the Team

At OpenAI, we are dedicated to building safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) to benefit all of humanity. Our mission attracts the world’s top talent in science, engineering, and business to address one of the most ambitious challenges of our times. The Recruiting team is at the heart of this mission, tasked with identifying and hiring exceptional individuals who align with OpenAI's values and cultural ambitions. Our approach to recruitment aims to set the standard for excellence and innovation in the field, connecting outstanding candidates with opportunities to impact the future of AI.

About the Role

As a Senior Technical Sourcer at OpenAI, you will play a key role in identifying and engaging top-tier engineering talent across a broad range of technical domains. Your focus will be on sourcing exceptional software engineers and technical talent to help build world‑class teams advancing our mission in AI research and deployment.

In this role, you will:

• Lead sourcing strategies to identify and engage candidates across a variety of engineering disciplines, including software engineering, backend systems, product engineering, and related technical areas.
• Develop and maintain a strong pipeline of passive candidates through proactive outreach, research, and networking.
• Collaborate closely with hiring managers and technical leaders to deeply understand hiring needs and refine sourcing approaches accordingly.
• Leverage advanced sourcing techniques and tools to identify and attract exceptional talent.
• Represent OpenAI at industry events and conferences to promote our mission and connect with potential candidates.
• Maintain accurate and organized candidate data and metrics to inform sourcing strategies and decision‑making.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• 5+ years of experience in technical sourcing, with a focus on engineering or technical roles.
• A proven track record of successfully sourcing candidates across a range of software engineering and technical disciplines.
• A strong understanding of technical concepts and the ability to effectively communicate role requirements to candidates.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust with both candidates and internal stakeholders.
• Proficiency with sourcing tools and platforms, including LinkedIn Recruiter and applicant tracking systems.
• The ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt quickly in a fast‑paced, evolving environment.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general‑purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

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 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. 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.