Hybrid Hardware Architecture Expert

at OpenAI

• Job title: Hardware Architecture Expert
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Mid level, Senior
• Salary: $342,000 - $555,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, San Francisco, United States

About the role

• Seeking a Hardware Architecture Expert to engage with silicon vendors for AI infrastructure. Analyzing performance characteristics to ensure next-gen hardware meets workload needs.

Responsibilities

• Engage deeply with silicon vendors (e.g NVIDIA & AMD) on GPU and accelerator architecture tradeoffs.
• Analyze and interpret performance, power, and efficiency characteristics of next-generation hardware.
• Translate vendor specifications into expected real-world performance for AI workloads.
• Evaluate architectural aspects including:
• compute throughput and utilization
• memory systems (HBM, cache hierarchies, bandwidth constraints)
• data types and precision tradeoffs (FP16, BF16, FP8, etc.)
• interconnect and scaling behavior.
• Run benchmarks and profiling to validate hardware performance against workload requirements.
• Lead early bring-up and evaluation of engineering sample (ES) silicon.
• Partner with performance modeling and system architecture teams to align measured vs. modeled behavior.
• Provide actionable feedback to vendors to influence future silicon design and roadmap decisions.

Requirements

• Have deep expertise in GPU or accelerator architecture, including performance and power tradeoffs.
• Understand AI workload behavior and how it interacts with hardware design choices.
• Are comfortable engaging directly with silicon vendors at a technical architecture level.
• Have hands-on experience with benchmarking, profiling, and performance analysis.
• Can translate low-level hardware details into system-level and workload-level impact.
• Are equally comfortable in theory (architecture) and practice (measurement/validation).
• Thrive in environments where you bridge internal teams and external partners.

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.