Optical Interconnect System Engineer Location San Francisco Employment Type Full time Location Type Hybrid Department Scaling Compensation $342K - $445K • Offers Equity The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. If the role is non-exempt, overtime pay will be provided consistent with applicable laws. In addition to the salary range listed above, total compensation also includes generous equity, performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits. Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit) 401(k) retirement plan with employer match Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks) Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law) Mental health and wellness support Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible Relocation support for eligible employees Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided. More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process. This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions. Overview Application About the Team OpenAI's Hardware organization develops silicon and system-level solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team is responsible for building the next generation of AI-native silicon while working closely with software and research partners to co-design hardware tightly integrated with AI models. In addition to delivering production-grade silicon for OpenAI's supercomputing infrastructure, the team also creates custom design tools and methodologies that accelerate innovation and enable hardware optimized specifically for AI. About the Role We're looking for an Optical Interconnect System Engineer to design, qualify, and deploy scalable optical connectivity for large-scale AI infrastructure. This role spans fiber-system architecture, optical-mechanical integration, validation, reliability, deployment, and serviceability. You will work with optical, mechanical, electrical, networking, manufacturing, reliability, and data-center teams to translate system needs into practical interconnect solutions. This is a hands-on role for someone who can connect design decisions with installation, qualification, troubleshooting, and long-term operational performance. In this role, you will: Define optical interconnect architectures and requirements across hardware platforms and rack-level systems. Design high-density fiber systems for performance, density, reliability, installation, and serviceability. Lead optical-mechanical integration and cross-functional design reviews. Develop test and qualification plans for optical components, modules, switching platforms, and integrated systems. Own optical loss budgets, routing guidelines, handling requirements, and serviceability criteria. Support system bring-up, deployment, troubleshooting, failure analysis, and reliability improvement. Create reusable design guidelines, interface requirements, and qualification methods. You might thrive in this role if you have: Core experience Experience designing and deploying large-scale optical systems, including cross-rack integration. Experience with high-density fiber architecture, routing, installation, testing, and troubleshooting. Hands-on optical-mechanical design and system-integration experience. Experience qualifying fiber assemblies and optical interconnect systems for performance and reliability. Validation experience across optical modules, switching platforms, and integrated hardware systems. Strong system-level problem solving and cross-functional communication skills. Preferred Experience Experience developing optical connectivity for large-scale compute or network systems. Experience with scalable fiber infrastructure and modular interconnect design. Knowledge of network architecture and topology. Experience developing reusable optical-interconnect standards and qualification methods. To comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations, candidates for this role may need to meet certain legal status requirements as provided in those laws and regulations. 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 Range:

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