AI Deployment Engineer, Startups

About The Team

The AI Deployment Engineering team at OpenAI is dedicated to the safe and effective deployment of Generative AI applications for developers and enterprises. Serving as a trusted advisor, the team partners with customers to build effective GenAI use cases, driving them to production with strong technical guidance. OpenAI's customer base spans from early-stage startups to established global enterprises.

About The Role

OpenAI is seeking a technically proficient, business-minded AI Deployment Engineer to advance the frontier of advanced AI with strategic startup customers. In this role, you will guide some of the most exciting AI startups globally through ideation, development, delivery, and scaling, maximizing the value of their applications on the OpenAI platform. You will engage with novel and creative use cases built on the API, providing critical product and model feedback internally. Collaboration will be key, working closely with Sales, Solutions Engineering, Applied Research, and Product teams. This role reports to the Startups AI Deployment Lead and is based in our San Francisco HQ, following a hybrid work model of three days in the office per week, with relocation assistance available.

In This Role, You Will

• Partner closely with strategic startup customers as their technical thought partner to build novel applications on our API, helping them rapidly move from ideation to scale.
• Provide proactive guidance to maximize business impact and accelerate application development.
• Experiment and prototype alongside customers, demonstrating practical use cases.
• Contribute to open-source resources and scale the function by sharing knowledge, codifying best practices, and publishing useful resources.
• Synthesize and deliver valuable feedback to the Product and Research teams.
• Build relationships within the startup ecosystem, serving as a technical partner to both individual customers and the broader community.

You’ll Thrive In This Role If You

• Have 5+ years of experience as a software engineer, ML engineer or equivalent, ideally in a startup environment; experience as a founder or founding engineer is highly valued.
• Have passion for startups and a belief in their potential to become future large enterprises.
• Are proficient in Python, JavaScript, and a strong grasp of AI/LLM best practices.
• Built and/or delivered prototypes on top of our API platform.
• Can proactively identify opportunities for maximizing our customers’ business value through leveraging the OpenAI API.
• Own problems end-to-end and are willing to pick up whatever knowledge you're missing to get the job done.
• Have a humble attitude, an eagerness to help your colleagues, and a desire to do whatever it takes to make the team succeed.
• Are an effective, high throughput operator who can drive multiple concurrent projects and prioritize ruthlessly.

Key skills/competency

• Generative AI
• Machine Learning Engineering
• Python
• JavaScript
• API Development
• Startup Ecosystem
• Technical Consulting
• Prototyping
• Strategic Partnerships
• LLM Best Practices