Software Engineer, Backend

Software Engineer, Backend at OpenAI

The Knowledge Innovation team at OpenAI is dedicated to scaling the company with advanced AI systems. We are actively building a model-powered knowledge system that continuously evolves and learns alongside our products, internal systems, and customer base. This involves leveraging state-of-the-art models, technologies, and products – both existing and in development – to assist or completely automate robust operations for internal and external customers. Our support spans OpenAI customers and internal partners globally, powering crucial systems from customer support and integrity to product insights. We operate as a self-contained, multi-disciplinary team, benefiting from rapid feedback loops with customers at scale, some of whom are in close proximity. Our approach emphasizes fast iteration and engineering for reliable, long-term impact. We constantly seek patterns and similarities across diverse workstreams, focusing on creating simple primitives to apply world-class knowledge across many domains.

The work of this team serves as a prime example of utilizing OpenAI technologies. We construct systems that demonstrate the significant leverage possible through well-designed AI-based implementations. We achieve this by tackling internal use cases, specifically focusing on customer-centric knowledge systems, automation systems, and automated agent systems, to prove impact before scaling these solutions.

About The Role

We are seeking a Backend Software Engineer to play a crucial role in architecting and scaling the foundational infrastructure for our knowledge systems. This position is deeply technical and highly cross-functional, requiring you to build robust systems and backend services that form the core for how knowledge is created, accessed, and effectively applied throughout OpenAI.

In This Role, You Will

• Design, build, and maintain backend services and APIs to support intelligent automation and knowledge systems.
• Integrate and structure data across various internal platforms, transforming it into formats optimized for use by downstream systems and AI workflows.
• Collaborate closely with product, research, and engineering teams to seamlessly integrate OpenAI models into high-leverage workflows.
• Own the full development lifecycle of new backend systems and internal platform capabilities.
• Build with an emphasis on scale and maintainability, while simultaneously iterating rapidly on new ideas.

You Might Be a Great Fit If You Have

• 4+ years of backend engineering experience at product-driven companies (excluding internships).
• Proficiency in backend technologies, specifically Python, FastAPI, and Postgres.
• Experience designing and scaling distributed systems, APIs, or data processing pipelines.
• A pragmatic mindset, comfortable with shipping iteratively while diligently building toward a long-term vision.
• An interest in structured knowledge representation, internal search, agent infrastructure, or systems that evolve over time.
• Curiosity about AI/ML and excitement to collaborate with world-class research and product teams (hands-on experience is a bonus, not a must).

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 AI system capabilities and aim to safely deploy them to the world through our products. We believe AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core. 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 do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected characteristics. 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.

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We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

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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

• Backend Engineering
• Distributed Systems
• API Design
• Data Processing
• Python
• FastAPI
• Postgres
• AI/ML Curiosity
• Structured Knowledge
• Automation