Software Engineer, Fleet Management

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 490,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is looking for a Software Engineer, Operating Systems & Orchestration in San Francisco, CA. This role involves building systems for managing hardware and configurations, enhancing the research user experience. Candidates should have strong software engineering skills and experience in large-scale infrastructure.

We offer a hybrid work model, with relocation assistance and a competitive compensation range of $230K - $490K.

Qualifications

• Strong software engineering skills.
• Experience in large-scale infrastructure environments.
• Broad knowledge of cluster-level systems.

Responsibilities

• Design and build systems to manage cloud and bare-metal fleets.
• Develop tools that integrate hardware metrics with job scheduling.
• Automate infrastructure processes to improve reliability.

Skills

Software engineering skills

Experience in large-scale infrastructure

Knowledge of Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Terraform

Containerization

Linux kernels

Job description

The Fleet team at OpenAI supports the computing environment that powers our cutting‑edge research and product development. We oversee large‑scale systems that span data centers, GPUs, networking, and more, ensuring high availability, performance, and efficiency. Our work enables OpenAI’s models to operate seamlessly at scale, supporting both internal research and external products like ChatGPT. We prioritize safety, reliability, and responsible AI deployment over unchecked growth.

About The Role

The Software Engineer, Operating Systems & Orchestration will focus on building systems to manage hardware, configurations, vendors, and the people interacting with our infrastructure. You will design and develop solutions that integrate individual nodes and servers into unified clusters, directly contributing to advancing AI research by streamlining the overall research user experience. This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In This Role, You Will

• Design and build systems to manage both cloud and bare‑metal fleets at scale.
• Develop tools that integrate low‑level hardware metrics with high‑level job scheduling and cluster management algorithms.
• Leverage LLMs to coordinate vendor operations and optimize infrastructure workflows.
• Automate infrastructure processes, reducing repetitive toil and improving system reliability.
• Collaborate with hardware, infrastructure, and research teams to ensure seamless integration across the stack.
• Continuously improve tools, automation, processes, and documentation to enhance operational efficiency.

You Might Thrive In This Role If You

• Have strong software engineering skills with experience in large‑scale infrastructure environments.
• Possess broad knowledge of cluster‑level systems (e.g., Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, Terraform, cloud providers).
• Have deep expertise in server‑level systems (e.g., systems, containerization, Chef, Linux kernels, firmware management, host routing).
• Are passionate about optimizing the performance and reliability of large compute fleets.
• Thrive in dynamic environments and are eager to solve complex infrastructure challenges.
• Value automation, efficiency, and continuous improvement in everything you build.

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.

Compensation Range: $230K - $490K