About the job
About the Team
Join OpenAI’s innovative Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) organization, where we merge product development, engineering, research, and market strategies. Our team is dedicated to transforming cutting-edge platform capabilities into practical solutions, collaborating with design partners to convert valuable customer feedback into tangible software products and strategic direction.
As a core component of FDE, we engage in rapid iterations on select platform initiatives: identifying significant challenges across various deployments, swiftly creating prototypes, validating them with our design partners, and collaborating with our engineering and product teams to scale successful innovations. Once a capability is ready for broader implementation, we facilitate the transition of ownership and move on to explore new frontiers.
About the Role
The Platform Incubation Engineer position is a unique opportunity for talented software and machine learning engineers eager to develop novel platform capabilities from the ground up, directly informed by real-world customer deployments.
You will be part of an agile team, working in focused pods on various platform initiatives rather than being tied to a single long-term account. Your role involves close collaboration with customer-focused FDEs and cross-functional teams in engineering and product to: (1) develop initial versions of capabilities, (2) test them with design partners through short-term deployments or pilot programs, and (3) promote adoption by ensuring the capabilities are robust, user-friendly, and prepared for scaling. You can expect to engage directly with customers when necessary – whether pitching ideas, planning rollouts, troubleshooting issues, or learning from production feedback – but your primary mission is to transform pioneering insights into reusable platform capabilities.
This role does not require travel. It is based in San Francisco or New York, utilizing a hybrid work model with three days in the office each week. We offer relocation assistance, with optional project-related travel typically under 10%, except for key embeds or launches.