Technical Program Manager, Sensors

OpenAI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 207,000 - 285,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking aTechnical Program Manager for Sensor systems in San Francisco to drive cross-functional hardware integration across camera modules, LiDAR, IMUs, and related components. This role focuses on turning complex sensor needs into actionable plans with clear milestones from requirements through manufacturing.

The candidate will partner with engineering, test, manufacturing, and supply chain to ensure on-time delivery and robust validation, while balancing cost, quality, and

Qualifications

• Experience leading electromechanical hardware programs from requirements through manufacturing.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration across engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain.
• Experience with sensor domains (camera modules, LiDAR, IMUs, radar) and their integration.
• Knowledge of engineering development systems for version control, change management, reviews, and production releases.

Responsibilities

• Drive requirements alignment across design, integration, testing, and validation.
• Coordinate module integrations with PCBAs, enclosures, harnesses, and cables.
• Establish cadences for technical reviews, BOM readiness, change control, and production releases.
• Lead validation planning for functional, reliability, and NVH testing.
• Partner with manufacturing and supply chain for handoffs and production readiness.
• Drive cost, quality, performance, schedule trade-offs and quantify impacts.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Program management

System integration

EM hardware

Requirements management

Tools

PCBAs

Job description

Technical Program Manager, Sensors | OpenAI

Robotics - San Francisco

Technical Program Manager, Sensors

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 are looking for a TPM to drive development and integration of a range of sensor systems for robotics. This role will drive cross-functional alignment across requirements, engineering design, integration, validation, manufacturing, supply chain, and release processes, helping turn complex sensor-system needs into clear plans, decisions, and milestones.

Location and in-person expectations

This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week.

In this role you will:

• Drive requirements alignment across engineering design, integration, testing, and validation for camera modules, LiDAR, IMUs, RADAR, proximity sensors, audio components and the systems they interact with.
• Coordinate the integration of modules including electrical, mechanical, harnessing, and software interfaces with the full robotic system with deep understanding of timelines to drive the respective PCBAs, enclosures, build and test fixtures, connectors and cables.
• Establish effective cadences for technical reviews, BOM readiness, change management, production releases, approvals, and decision tracking.
• Align harnesses, fasteners, assembly fixtures, test fixtures, and documentation so cross-functional teams can execute against a clear plan.
• Lead validation planning around functional, reliability, NVH failure modes, including testing needs, schedules, and exit criteria.
• Partner with manufacturing and supply chain to manage handoffs, lead times, dependencies, and production readiness.
• Drive tradeoff decisions across cost, quality, performance, schedule, and lead time by collaborating cross-functionally and quantifying impact to meet program deliverables.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Bring experience in developing camera modules, microphones/speakers, radar, proximity sensing, etc. and their integration into mobile robots.
• Have led complex electromechanical hardware programs from requirements through manufacturing.
• Understand engineering development systems for version control, change management, technical reviews, approvals, and production releases.
• Can work effectively across engineering, test, manufacturing, and supply chain teams.

What success looks like:

• Requirements, interfaces, dependencies, and validation plans are aligned across engineering teams.
• Sensor subsystems move from design through integration and testing with clear milestones and exit criteria.
• Technical reviews, BOM readiness, change control, and production-release mechanisms are operating effectively.
• Functional, reliability, and NVH risks are surfaced early and driven to closure.
• Cost, quality, performance, schedule, and lead-time tradeoffs are quantified and resolved cross-functionally.
• Mitigation strategies are well communicated and aligned upon, acceleration of hardware development from design to trials on the floor is quantifiable.
• Tools and workflows built are well embedded in the daily routine of all the team members, thus do not seem an added overhead to get things done.

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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policy statement.

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.

To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

Compensation

$207K – $285K + Offers Equity