The base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. If the role is non-exempt, overtime pay will be provided consistent with applicable laws. In addition to the salary range listed above, total compensation also includes generous equity, performance-related bonus(es) for eligible employees, and the following benefits.

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

• Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)

• 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 (up to 8 weeks)

• 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 for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)

• Mental health and wellness support

• Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage

• 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, may also be provided.

More details about our benefits are available to candidates during the hiring process.

This role is at-will and OpenAI reserves the right to modify base pay and other compensation components at any time based on individual performance, team or company results, or market conditions.

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives.

About the Role

We are seeking a Mechanical Engineer to support the design, integration, and sustaining engineering of mechanical subsystems in robotic platforms. You will work closely with experienced engineers and cross-functional partners to develop and iterate on hardware that meets functional, durability, and manufacturing requirements.

This role focuses on building strong fundamentals in mechanical system design — including tolerance, alignment, load paths, wear, and failure modes — while contributing to real hardware programs moving from prototype through early production. You will support both new subsystem development and ongoing improvements to existing systems based on testing, field performance, and manufacturing feedback.

In this role, you will

• Support the design and iteration of mechanical subsystems, including structures, mechanisms, actuators.

• Create and maintain CAD models, assemblies, and drawings with appropriate tolerancing and documentation.

• Build and test prototypes, supporting debugging of mechanical issues such as fit, alignment, friction, and wear.

• Assist in developing test methods and executing validation to evaluate performance, durability, and failure modes.

• Work with cross-functional teams to integrate mechanical components with sensors, actuators, and control systems.

• Support transition of designs from prototype to manufacturable assemblies, incorporating DFM and DFA considerations.

• Collaborate with manufacturing partners and internal build teams to support assembly, troubleshooting, and process improvement.

• Analyze test results and field data to identify issues and drive iterative design improvements.

• Document designs, test results, and changes to support repeatability and production readiness.

• Support sustaining engineering efforts by investigating failures, tracking issues, and implementing corrective actions.

You might thrive in this role if you

• Have strong mechanical intuition and are motivated to understand how things fail, wear, and degrade over time.

• Enjoy hands-on work building, testing, and debugging physical systems.

• Are comfortable iterating quickly and learning from incomplete or evolving requirements.

• Can break down problems and work through details such as tolerances, interfaces, and assembly constraints.

• Are proactive in seeking feedback and learning from more experienced engineers.

• Are detail-oriented and value clear documentation and repeatability.

• Enjoy working across disciplines and collaborating with design, manufacturing, and research teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.

• Internship or project experience in mechanical design, robotics, or electromechanical systems.

• Experience with CAD tools (e.g., NX, SolidWorks, or similar).

• Familiarity with manufacturing processes such as machining, molding, or basic fabrication methods.

• Exposure to engineering drawings and tolerancing practices.

• Experience with prototyping, lab work, or hardware bring-up.

• Experience working on multidisciplinary projects involving hardware and software integration.

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.

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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.

Compensation Range: $255K - $263K