Technical Program Manager, Robotics Data Acquisition

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 257,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI in San Francisco is seeking a Technical Program Manager to own robotic data acquisition systems. You will integrate cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality data collection for model training.

The ideal candidate has over 5 years of experience in technical program management, especially in hardware and robotics. The compensation range for this role is $257K to $300K.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in technical program management, systems engineering, or operations in robotics or hardware.
• Strong systems-level thinking across hardware, software, and operational workflows.
• Experience scaling physical systems such as labs, factories, or robotics fleets.

Responsibilities

• Own DAQ program delivery with roadmap execution and scaling.
• Drive cross-functional integration for data collection systems.
• Ensure readiness of DAQ stations for production use.

Skills

Technical program management

Systems engineering

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Job description

About Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general‑purpose robotics and advancing toward AGI‑level intelligence in dynamic, real‑world environments. Working across the full model and systems 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 physical constraints of real‑world systems to improve people’s lives.

About The Role

We’re looking for a Technical Program Manager to own and scale the systems that power robotic data acquisition across our development and evaluation environments. This role sits at the intersection of Robotics Engineering, Operations, and Infrastructure, ensuring that DAQ stations and associated workflows reliably produce high‑quality data for model training and evaluation.

You will drive end‑to‑end execution of complex, cross‑functional programs that integrate robotic platforms, sensing systems, operator tooling, and data pipelines into cohesive, production‑ready systems. Success in this role requires strong systems thinking, operational rigor, and the ability to translate ambiguous research needs into scalable infrastructure.

In This Role You Will

• Own DAQ Program Delivery: Lead the roadmap, execution, and scaling of robotic DAQ systems, ensuring alignment with research, engineering, and operational priorities.
• Drive Cross‑Functional Integration: Coordinate across robotics hardware, software, infrastructure, and operations teams to deliver tightly integrated, deployment‑ready data collection systems.
• Operationalize Data Collection Systems: Translate experimental and research workflows into repeatable, scalable DAQ processes with clear SLAs, metrics, and reliability targets.
• System Readiness & Deployment: Ensure DAQ stations (robots, sensors, compute, operator interfaces) are fully integrated, validated, and ready for production use across multiple sites.
• Program Execution & Risk Management: Build and manage detailed program plans, identify risks early, and drive mitigation across technical and operational domains.
• Capacity & Throughput Planning: Model and plan DAQ capacity (stations, operators, uptime) to meet evolving data demands, balancing speed, cost, and quality.
• Quality & Data Integrity Oversight: Partner with engineering and data teams to define and enforce data quality standards, ensuring consistency and usability for downstream model training.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive improvements in system reliability, utilization, and efficiency through instrumentation, feedback loops, and process optimization.

You Might Thrive In This Role If You

• Have 5+ years of experience in technical program management, systems engineering, or operations in hardware, robotics, or infrastructure‑heavy environments.
• Possess strong systems‑level thinking across hardware, software, and operational workflows.
• Prove the ability to lead complex, cross‑functional programs with high ambiguity.
• Have experience scaling physical systems (labs, factories, robotics fleets, or test infrastructure).
• Are comfortable working close to hardware and debugging real‑world system issues.
• Hold strong analytical skills and model capacity, throughput, and system performance.
• Have excellent communication skills with the ability to align diverse stakeholders.

Equal Opportunity & Legal

OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other 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. In certain circumstances, criminal history may be relevant to specific job duties related to protecting hardware, returning hardware upon termination, and maintaining confidentiality.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Requests can be made through a link.

Compensation Range

$257K - $300K