OpenAI
Scaling
HostSystemsSoftwareEngineer
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Senior candidates.
“Host Systems Software Engineer at OpenAI. Skills: Systems software, Linux kernel, RDMA, PCIe. Design host-side systems software. Implement host-side systems software”
Industry & Context.
Debugging; Diagnose issues; Troubleshooting
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
Low-level systems software experience, C or C++ programming, Python and Linux tooling proficiency, Linux systems fundamentals, Debug across hardware/software boundaries, Hands-on kernel drivers experience, Hands-on kernel networking experience, Hands-on RDMA experience, Hands-on PCIe experience, Hands-on DMA experience, Hands-on NIC software experience, Hands-on accelerator software experience, Hands-on high-performance I/O experience, Own complex software projects, Build systems from scratch, Cross-functional communication skills
Nice to Have
Linux kernel drivers development, OS-level performance-critical components development, RDMA or RoCE familiarity, ibverbs familiarity, Kernel networking familiarity, Congestion-control concepts familiarity, PCIe experience, DMA experience, Peer-to-peer communication experience, SR-IOV experience, IOMMU experience, dma-buf experience, Accelerator subsystems experience, I/O subsystems experience, Accelerator bring-up experience, NIC bring-up experience, SoC bring-up experience, Custom hardware platforms bring-up, Profiling high-throughput systems, Optimizing high-throughput systems, Profiling low-latency systems, Optimizing low-latency systems, Rust familiarity, Rust systems programming experience
What You'll Do.
Design host-side systems software
Implement host-side systems software
Debug host-side systems software
Optimize software paths
Develop software around PCIe
Develop software around DMA
Develop software around NICs
Develop software around accelerators
Develop software around memory movement
Develop software around device interaction
Bring up new hardware platforms
Diagnose complex issues
Build tooling for integration
Build tooling for testing
Build tooling for diagnostics
Build tooling for observability
Build tooling for qualification
Build tooling for performance characterization
Collaborate with hardware teams
Collaborate with networking teams
Collaborate with platform teams
Integrate new capabilities
Work with external vendors
Integrate technologies
Drive issues to resolution
Contribute across systems software stack
Shape technical direction
Shape engineering practices
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Cross-functional teams; Hardware teams; Networking teams; Platform teams; External vendors
Communication Scope
Cross-functional communication
Process & Methodology
Project ownership
Full Job Description
About the Team OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops custom silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team works across hardware, systems architecture, and software to build infrastructure that enables high-performance, AI-native computing at scale. In close partnership with research, software, and external vendors, we bring up new platforms, integrate emerging technologies, and develop the host-side systems software needed to make these systems performant, reliable, and production-ready. About the Role We’re looking for an experienced systems software engineer to help define and build the host software stack for our custom next-generation AI systems. You will work close to the hardware on performance-critical software, including Linux kernel drivers, high-throughput I/O paths, and system-scale networking and RDMA. This role spans architecture, implementation, platform bring-up, debugging, and performance optimization. You will work across hardware and software boundaries to make new systems usable end to end, from low-level device interfaces through userspace tooling and production validation. In this role you will: - Design, implement, and debug host-side systems software for AI infrastructure, including Linux kernel drivers and supporting userspace components. - Build and optimize software paths for high-throughput, low-latency communication, including RDMA and related networking functionality. - Develop software around PCIe, DMA, NICs, accelerators, memory movement, and device interaction. - Bring up new hardware platforms and diagnose complex issues across kernel, firmware, networking, and hardware boundaries. - Build tooling for integration, testing, diagnostics, observability, qualification, and performance characterization. - Collaborate with hardware, networking, and platform teams to define interfaces and integrate new capabilities. - Work with external vendors where needed to integrate technologies and drive
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