Job Overview

OpenAI is seeking a Site Reliability Engineer to join the Frontier Systems Infrastructure team. This role involves operating the next generation of compute clusters that power OpenAI’s frontier research, blending distributed systems engineering with hands-on infrastructure work on our largest datacenters.

Key Responsibilities

• Spin up and scale large Kubernetes clusters, including automation for provisioning, bootstrapping, and cluster lifecycle management


• Build software abstractions that unify multiple clusters and present a seamless interface to training workloads


• Own node bring-up from bare metal through firmware upgrades, ensuring fast, repeatable deployment at massive scale


• Improve operational metrics such as reducing cluster restart times and accelerating firmware or OS upgrade cycles


• Integrate networking and hardware health systems to deliver end-to-end reliability across servers, switches, and data center infrastructure


• Develop monitoring and observability systems to detect issues early and keep clusters stable under extreme load

Required Qualifications

• Experience as an infrastructure, systems, or distributed systems engineer in large-scale or high-availability environments


• Strong knowledge of Kubernetes internals, cluster scaling patterns, and containerized workloads


• Proficiency in cloud infrastructure concepts (compute, networking, storage, security) and in automating cluster or data center operations


• Bonus: background with GPU workloads, firmware management, or high-performance computing

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.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts

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

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

Mental health and wellness support

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