
Robotics Software Engineer at OpenAI (San Francisco, CA)
OpenAI· San Francisco, CA· $255k–$325k·
Role details
Equity
OpenAI at a glance
Builds frontier AI models and ships them as consumer, developer, and enterprise products — ChatGPT, the API platform, and Codex.
Builds frontier AI models and ships them as consumer, developer, and enterprise products (ChatGPT, the OpenAI API platform, Codex, and an agent layer).
~$180B raised · latest: $122B round at an $852B valuation (2026) · backed by Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, SoftBank
Summary
Design, implement, and optimize software solutions for diverse robotics hardware, focusing on data collection, evaluation, and control interfaces. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate industrial automation and custom hardware into production environments.
Job description
About the Team
Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model 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 constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives.
About the Role
We're seeking talented Robotics Software Engineers to expand our robotics data collection and evaluation program. This highly technical role involves designing, implementing, and optimizing software solutions across diverse robotics hardware. You'll work closely and collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams; including software, hardware, research, and operations - to drive advancements in our robotic systems.
This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person 4 days a week.
In this role, you will:
- Help develop and grow our data collection labs, owning the entire integration lifecycle, from identifying and sourcing new hardware to collaborating with mechanical and electrical engineers on setup, software integration, and operational deployment.
- Develop innovative robot control interfaces suited to a variety of morphologies, environments, and tasks.
- Collaborate closely with research and engineering teams to develop automation tools and machinery that facilitate the evaluation of advanced robotic policies.
- Lead the design and implementation of data collection, visualization, and quality control processes.
You might thrive in this role if you:
- Have 5+ years of professional software engineering experience developing and shipping production-quality systems in robotics or hardware-integrated environments.
- Have extensive experience integrating and deploying industrial automation systems, off-the-shelf robotics platforms, or custom hardware into production environments.
- Bring hands-on experience delivering production-quality software within collaborative, cross-functional engineering teams.
- Have strong proficiency in Rust or C++.
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.
Why work at OpenAI
- Culture & values: OpenAI’s stated values include “Humanity first,” “Act with humility,” “Feel the AGI,” and “Ship joy.” Operating principles emphasize agency, creativity, rapid iteration, and intense focus.
- Benefits: Competitive health insurance, mental healthcare support, 24-week paid birth-parent leave (plus 20 weeks for other parents), generous PTO, annual learning & development stipend, daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), and a domestic conference budget.
- Work environment: Hybrid/office-based (San Francisco headquarters). The company offers a residency program for researchers and engineers transitioning into AI.
- Impact: Employees work directly on frontier AI models that shape the industry and society. The mission-driven nature attracts talent passionate about AGI’s societal implications.