Tech Lead, Deployment & Operations — Custom Infrastructure

OpenAI, Inc.

Job Overview

Location

San Francisco

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• Lead a team responsible for the deployment and operational management of OpenAI’s custom silicon and systems within production data center environments
• Own the end-to-end journey of new hardware platforms from lab validation through production deployment, operational readiness, and sustained fleet support
• Define and implement deployment processes, operational playbooks, technical readiness criteria, escalation paths, and reliability practices for custom AI hardware
• Partner cross-functionally with silicon design, systems engineering, software, infrastructure, networking, data center operations, and supply chain teams to ensure seamless integration and scale
• Drive technical execution across hardware bring-up, rack and system integration, data center deployment, fleet monitoring, debugging, and incident resolution
• Remain deeply hands-on in architecture reviews, deployment planning, failure analysis, system-level debugging, and critical operational decision-making
• Identify gaps in tooling, observability, automation, validation coverage, and operational workflows, and lead initiatives to close them
• Establish and track key metrics for deployment readiness, system reliability, performance, maintainability, and overall operational health
• Build and cultivate an engineering culture rooted in ownership, technical rigor, operational excellence, and high-velocity execution
• Ensure custom AI hardware platforms are deployed, operated, and maintained reliably, repeatably, and safely at massive scale
• Contribute directly to the architecture and design of future machine learning systems by applying operational insights from real-world hardware deployment
• Mentor and develop senior technical engineers while maintaining active involvement in technical execution and problem-solving
• Operate effectively in fast-moving, ambiguous environments where hardware platforms, tooling, and operational models are still being defined
• Communicate clearly and decisively across technical and operational teams during high-urgency, cross-functional technical incidents
• Maintain a bias toward ownership by actively engaging in urgent technical issues and leading resolution efforts
• Build practical, scalable systems, tools, and processes that ensure consistent and reliable hardware operations in production
• Ensure compliance with data center operational standards, security protocols, and hardware handling procedures
• Collaborate with external partners and vendors to align on deployment timelines, logistical requirements, and technical specifications
• Participate in on-call rotations and incident response for critical production hardware failures
• Contribute to long-term strategic planning for OpenAI’s supercomputing infrastructure and AI-native hardware roadmap

🎯 Requirements

• 8+ years of engineering experience in hardware systems, infrastructure, data center deployment, production operations, systems engineering, silicon bring-up, or related technical domains
• Strong technical depth in one or more of: hardware deployment, data center operations, rack-scale systems, silicon bring-up, systems validation, fleet operations, reliability engineering, infrastructure automation, or hardware/software integration
• Experience bringing complex hardware systems from development or validation into production environments
• Experience working closely with silicon, systems, software, infrastructure, networking, or data center teams
• Demonstrated ability to hire, develop, and lead senior technical talent
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, especially in high-urgency, cross-functional technical environments

🏖️ Benefits

• Compensation range of $342K - $445K USD
• Opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI-native silicon and systems at the forefront of machine learning infrastructure
• Collaborative environment with world-class teams in AI research, software, and hardware engineering
• Commitment to operational excellence and building reliable, scalable systems at unprecedented scale

Skills & Technologies

DevOps

Senior

Onsite

$342k-445k

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OpenAI, Inc.

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About OpenAI, Inc.

OpenAI is a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research and deployment company founded in 2015. It develops large-scale AI models such as GPT, DALL-E, and Codex, providing cloud APIs and consumer applications like ChatGPT. Originally established as a non-profit, it later created a capped-profit subsidiary to attract capital while maintaining its mission to ensure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.

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