Role Overview

The AI Deployment Engineer role at OpenAI represents a rare opportunity to bridge the gap between groundbreaking AI research and real-world business impact. Reporting to the Startups AI Deployment Lead, you'll serve as a trusted technical advisor to high-potential AI startups building on our platform. From ideation workshops to production-scale deployments, you'll guide customers through every phase of their AI journey.

Our customers span the full startup spectrum—from pre-seed visionaries to Series B scale-ups—each pushing the boundaries of what's possible with generative AI. Your mission: accelerate their path to production while gathering invaluable insights that shape OpenAI's product roadmap. This hybrid position (3 days/week in our San Francisco HQ) combines deep technical expertise with business acumen, making it perfect for founding engineers ready to scale their impact.

Expect to work on novel use cases that don't exist in textbooks: custom agent architectures, multimodal RAG systems, real-time inference optimization, and enterprise-grade safety implementations. Your prototypes won't gather dust—they'll become production systems powering million-dollar businesses.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Partnership & Customer Success: Become each startup's technical co-founder equivalent, architecting solutions that maximize OpenAI API value. Conduct architecture reviews, performance audits, and scaling roadmaps that turn promising prototypes into revenue-generating products.

Rapid Prototyping & Experimentation: Build working demos that de-risk technical assumptions and validate business hypotheses. From chat interfaces to autonomous agents, your code will demonstrate what's possible today with OpenAI's platform.

Knowledge Leadership: Document patterns, publish guides, and contribute to open-source. Your learnings from customer deployments become industry standards that elevate the entire ecosystem.

Product Influence: Translate customer pain points into precise product requirements. Your feedback directly influences model training priorities, API feature roadmaps, and safety guardrails.

Ecosystem Building: Represent OpenAI at startup events, accelerators, and demo days. Position yourself as the go-to expert for AI deployment challenges facing ambitious founders.

Qualifications

We're seeking battle-tested engineers who thrive in startup chaos and possess genuine product instincts. The ideal candidate combines deep technical chops with startup DNA:

• 5+ years building production ML systems, preferably in fast-moving startup environments
• Founder/founding engineer experience strongly preferred—bonus if you've shipped at scale
• Python/JavaScript fluency with production-grade code quality
• Hands-on OpenAI API experience (built real prototypes, not just toy demos)
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into technical architecture
• End-to-end ownership mentality— you'll debug infra, tune prompts, AND close the feedback loop
• High agency operator who prioritizes ruthlessly across competing demands

Cultural fit matters as much as technical excellence. We need collaborative problem-solvers who celebrate team wins, admit knowledge gaps quickly, and execute with urgency.

Salary & Benefits

Compensation: $220,000 - $350,000 base + equity + benefits (total comp well into 7-figures for top performers). Exact level determined by experience and demonstrated impact.

Comprehensive Package Includes:

• Industry-leading medical/dental/vision coverage
• 401(k) matching and employee stock purchase plan
• Unlimited PTO with wellness days
• Relocation support to San Francisco
• Learning stipend for conferences/courses
• Catered meals, gym reimbursement, commuter benefits
• Generous parental leave policy

Why Join OpenAI?

OpenAI isn't just another AI company—it's where research becomes reality. Your work directly influences models used by millions and businesses generating billions in value. Few engineering roles offer this combination of technical depth, customer impact, and product influence.

Startup Focus Advantage: Work with founders who move fast and think big. These aren't risk-averse enterprises—they're moonshot builders who appreciate your candor and reward your impact.

San Francisco HQ Perks: Hybrid model balances collaboration with flexibility. Our office fosters serendipitous connections across research, product, and engineering.

Career Acceleration: Exposure to every facet of AI deployment positions you as a domain expert. Many team members transition to leadership roles across OpenAI or launch their own successful ventures.

How to Apply

Strong applicants will submit:

• Resume highlighting technical projects and startup experience
• GitHub/portfolio with OpenAI API prototypes
• 1-2 paragraphs on your favorite startup AI use case and technical implementation

Our process: 30-min recruiter call → Technical deep-dive → Customer scenario → Team interviews → Offer. Most strong candidates hear back within 1 week.

OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity. We consider qualified applicants regardless of background and provide reasonable accommodations.