Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering
OpenAI · New York, NY
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- On site
- Full-time
- $180,000 / year
- New York, NY
Job highlights
- Lead FDE team in customer deployments.
- Own technical and business outcomes end-to-end.
- Partner with Product, Research, Sales, GTM.
- Deliver signal to Research and Product.
- Grow a team operating under pressure.
About the role
About The Team
OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems. We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development.
About The Role
As an FDE manager, you’ll lead FDEs through high-stakes, ambiguous customer deployments and own technical and business value outcomes end to end. You’ll grow a team that can operate under pressure and help OpenAI learn from the field.
You’ll partner closely with Product, Research, Sales, and GTM to ensure fieldwork informs roadmap priorities, drives new exploration, and supports safe deployment at scale. Your decisions will influence how OpenAI is trusted by the customers closest to our deployment work. Your success will be measured by how consistently your team ships, how clearly you deliver signal to Research and Product, and how durable your team and delivery model prove to be.
This role is based in New York City. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week. We offer relocation assistance. This role also will require travel up to 25%.
In this role you will
- Lead and grow a team of FDE delivering production systems with frontier models
- Own end-to-end delivery outcomes through clarity, speed, tight coordination, and technical quality
- Codify what works into tools, playbooks, and roadmap inputs that create leverage for both OpenAI and our wider developer community
- Notice early indicators and raise them with urgency, whether in product behavior, customer environments, or delivery practices
- Use judgement to distinguish what requires action and what does not
- Set a high bar for FDE performance and support each person’s growth through direct, actionable feedback
- Define how we staff and support field teams that can scale without added complexity
You might thrive in this role if you
- Bring 8+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience, including 2+ years managing high-performing FDE or customer-facing engineers
- Have led high-pressure technical projects from prototype to production
- Write and review production-grade code across frontend and backend using Javascript or Python
- Simplify complex work and make fast, sound decisions under pressure
- Elevate team performance through clarity, not process
- Operate with urgency in ambiguous or evolving environments
- Translate field experience into sharp, actionable feedback for Product and Research
- Build deep trust with your team by modeling calm, focus, and judgment when it matters most
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.
Key skills/competency
- Leadership
- Customer Deployment
- Technical Delivery
- AI Systems
- Product Development
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Risk Management
- Team Growth
- JavaScript
- Python
Skills & topics
- Manager
- Forward Deployed Engineering
- AI
- Machine Learning
- Leadership
- Technical Delivery
- Customer Facing
- Python
- JavaScript
- Product Management
How to get hired
- Research OpenAI's mission: Understand their AI focus and commitment to benefiting humanity.
- Tailor your resume: Highlight 8+ years engineering/delivery and 2+ years management experience.
- Showcase technical skills: Emphasize Python, JavaScript, and production deployment experience.
- Prepare for leadership questions: Discuss leading teams, managing ambiguity, and driving outcomes.
- Demonstrate customer focus: Detail experience translating field insights into actionable feedback.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary responsibility of a Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering at OpenAI?
- The Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering at OpenAI leads a team of FDEs in delivering production systems with advanced AI models, owning technical and business outcomes from start to finish, and ensuring field insights inform product and research roadmaps.
- What technical skills are essential for this Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering role at OpenAI?
- Essential technical skills include experience with production-grade code in JavaScript or Python, leading high-pressure technical projects from prototype to production, and understanding of AI systems and deployment.
- How does OpenAI approach team growth and development for FDE Managers?
- OpenAI focuses on growing FDE teams to operate under pressure, with managers expected to set high performance bars, support individual growth through actionable feedback, and define scalable team structures.
- What is the work arrangement for the Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering position at OpenAI?
- This role is based in New York City and follows a hybrid work model, requiring 3 days in the office per week. Travel up to 25% is also expected.
- How does OpenAI ensure safety and ethical deployment of AI systems, and how does this role contribute?
- OpenAI is dedicated to AI safety and ensuring AI benefits all humanity. The FDE Manager role contributes by supporting safe deployment at scale and ensuring fieldwork informs responsible AI development and customer trust.
- What kind of experience is required to be considered for the Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering role?
- Candidates should have 8+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience, with at least 2 years managing high-performing, customer-facing engineers. Experience leading high-pressure projects from prototype to production is also crucial.
- How will success be measured for the Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering at OpenAI?
- Success is measured by the consistency of the team's shipments, the clarity of signal delivered to Research and Product, and the durability of the team and delivery model.