Software Engineer, Enterprise Controls

We Love AI Jobs; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 230,000 - 385,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco is seeking a Software Engineer for Enterprise Controls to design and deliver backend governance, access, and sharing across OpenAI products. You will own production reliability, security, and performance, translating enterprise needs into scalable services and APIs.

We value 9+ years of backend experience, deep systems thinking, and strong proficiency in languages such as Python, Go, Rust, Java, or C++.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of professional backend software engineering experience.
• Experience leading architecture for complex initiatives.
• Strong proficiency in a backend language such as Python, Go, Rust, Java, or C++.

Responsibilities

• Design and build backend services for permissions, authorization, and governance across OpenAI products.
• Develop sharing capabilities between people and agents, with clear access rules and enterprise controls.
• Build reusable services and APIs that support workspace administration and console experiences as OpenAI products evolve.
• Lead architecture and delivery for complex initiatives, aligning product and engineering partners on requirements, tradeoffs, and rollout plans.
• Translate enterprise needs into clear configuration, predictable permission behavior, and maintainable systems that other product teams can build on.
• Own the reliability, security, and performance of the services you ship through testing, observability, production debugging, and continuous improvement.

Skills

Backend engineering

Python

Go

Rust

Java

C++

Distributed services

Authorization systems

Job description

# Software Engineer, Enterprise ControlsOpenAISan FranciscoFull-time$230,000 – $385,000 / yearAI tools:ChatGPTCodexUpload your resume once and Scout applies for youApply with ScoutShare this job:LinkedInXSave imageBuilds backend services for access, permissions, sharing, and governance across OpenAI products, including ChatGPT and Codex. The engineer leads technical design and delivery while ensuring enterprise controls are reliable, secure, and usable.* Permanent* On-site* 9+ years### Skills and expertiseBackend engineeringPythonGoRustJavaC++Distributed servicesAuthorization systems### Key responsibilities* Build backend services for permissions, authorization, and governance across OpenAI products.* Develop sharing capabilities and reusable APIs for people, agents, and workspace administration.* Lead complex technical delivery and own production reliability, security, and performance.## How this job comparesCompared with 1,635 open senior engineering jobs on October 10, 2026.Pay: This job pays $230K to $385K a year. The 719 open senior engineering jobs that publish US pay start at $164K on average, so this job starts about 40% higher.Similar open jobs: We Love AI Jobs lists 1,635 open senior engineering jobs at 344 companies.Remote work: This job is on site. 271 of the 1,635 senior engineering jobs (17%) are remote.AI in this role: Medium. The role uses AI tools and works with AI systems as a regular part of the job. The role builds controls and sharing systems used across ChatGPT, Codex, and agent experiences. Its core work is enterprise backend governance rather than developing AI models or agent capabilities.## Full descriptionAbout the TeamEnterprise Controls & Console is part of Enterprise Engineering. We build the permissions, governance, and administration capabilities that help organizations use and deploy ChatGPT, Codex, and OpenAI products with confidence. We give administrators granular controls over access and security, helping ensure that people and agents operate within the boundaries their organizations define.Our work combines complex backend platform engineering with enterprise product needs and touches every major product and model launch. We build scalable, reusable services and intuitive administration experiences, and provide a shared controls foundation that enables internal teams to introduce new capabilities safely.About the RoleWe are looking for an experienced backend software engineer to help shape and build the systems behind enterprise access, governance, and sharing. You will bring deep backend expertise and strong product judgment to problems that span multiple OpenAI products, including how people and agents share access and work together. You will lead technical design and delivery, translate ambiguous enterprise needs into clear system behavior, and remain hands-on from implementation through production operation. This role is based in San Francisco.In this role, you will:• Design and build backend services for permissions, authorization, and governance across ChatGPT, Codex, and OpenAI APIs.• Develop sharing capabilities between people and agents, with clear access rules and enterprise controls that are understandable to administrators and users.• Build reusable services and APIs that support workspace administration and console experiences as OpenAI products evolve.• Lead architecture and delivery for complex initiatives, aligning product and engineering partners on requirements, tradeoffs, and rollout plans.• Translate enterprise needs into clear configuration, predictable permission behavior, and maintainable systems that other product teams can build on.• Own the reliability, security, and performance of the services you ship through testing, observability, production debugging, and continuous improvement.Your background might look something like:• 9+ years of professional backend software engineering experience, excluding internships, building and operating production services.• Deep backend engineering expertise and a track record of shipping complex product or platform capabilities that customers depend on.• Experience providing technical leadership for substantial initiatives, making architectural decisions, and coordinating delivery across teams while remaining hands-on.• Strong proficiency in a backend language such as Python, Go, Rust, Java, or C++, with sound software design and systems fundamentals.• Experience designing distributed services, APIs, and data models, with an understanding of reliability, consistency, scalability, and performance tradeoffs.• Experience building authorization, permissions, or enterprise governance systems, including translating access policies into reliable application behavior.• Strong product judgment and communication skills, with the ability to turn ambiguous user and administrator needs into practical technical decisions.• A track record of owning production systems, diagnosing difficult failures, and improving security, testing, observability, and operational reliability.About OpenAIOpenAI 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.