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OpenAI

Performance Modeling Engineer ~2

Hybrid

Part remote, part office, you need to live within commuting distance of a named location.

Hybrid · San Francisco

Employer listed it 5 months ago · Added 4 days ago

Been open since 5 months ago. Long-running listings are sometimes left up after the role is filled.

Salary

$347,000 to $445,000

Location

Hybrid · San Francisco

Timezone

Not stated

Contract

Full-time

Experience

Mid

Category

Software

Published by the employer

Remote flexibility

Hybrid

This role is only partly remote, the employer expects time in the office around San Francisco, Seattle, Hybrid, so you need to live within commuting distance.

What the employer says

  • Source listing states candidate location: "San Francisco, Seattle, Hybrid"
  • Listing mentions "Hybrid"

What Nomaders makes of it

  • Not suitable if you plan to move between countries

The quotes above are the employer's own words; the reading is ours. Always check the original listing and employment terms before working from another country.

About the role

About the Team

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops system and infrastructure solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. We work closely with architecture, infrastructure, and vendor teams to evaluate system performance and guide critical design decisions.

Our team focuses on building and applying performance modeling frameworks to understand system behavior, quantify tradeoffs, and support next-generation infrastructure design.

About the Role

We are seeking an Performance Modeling Engineer to support the development and application of modeling tools used to evaluate AI system performance and inform architectural decisions.

In this role, you will partner closely with Senior Performance Modeling Engineers and the Performance Modeling Lead to analyze system behavior, run simulations and analytical models, and help evaluate tradeoffs across compute, memory, networking, and storage. You will contribute to building modeling frameworks while developing a strong foundation in system architecture and AI infrastructure.

This role is ideal for early-career engineers with 1–2 years of experience in software engineering, systems analysis, or performance modeling who are excited to grow in large-scale infrastructure and hardware/software systems.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 3 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance.

Key Responsibilities

Support the development and maintenance of performance modeling tools and frameworks

Assist in building models to evaluate system behavior across compute, memory, networking, and interconnect subsystems

Help analyze distributed system scaling behavior and identify performance bottlenecks

Run simulations and analytical models to support architecture and infrastructure decisions

Partner with senior engineers to evaluate design tradeoffs across hardware and system components

Interpret modeling outputs and help translate findings into clear recommendations

Validate models using benchmarking data and real system performance measurements

Improve modeling workflows, documentation, and usability for broader team adoption

Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, infrastructure, and architecture teams

Continuously build technical depth across AI infrastructure, system architecture, and performance analysis

Qualifications

1–2 years of experience in software engineering, systems modeling, performance analysis, or related technical work

Strong programming skills and experience building technical tools, scripts, or frameworks

Familiarity with system architecture fundamentals such as compute, memory, and networking

Ability to reason about system performance, bottlenecks, and scaling behavior

Requirements

  • ·1–2 years of experience in software engineering, systems modeling, performance analysis, or related technical work
  • ·Strong programming skills and experience building technical tools, scripts, or frameworks
  • ·Familiarity with system architecture fundamentals such as compute, memory, and networking
  • ·Ability to reason about system performance, bottlenecks, and scaling behavior
  • ·Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with comfort working in quantitative environments

Benefits

No benefits package published with this listing. Ask about it at first interview.

How to apply

  1. 1Check the flexibility label above, hybrid, matches where you plan to live and work.
  2. 2Tailor your CV to the role at OpenAI, mentioning your remote working experience.
  3. 3Apply directly on the employer's careers page using the button below. Nomaders never handles your application.

Found 5d ago. Last checked 23 Sept. Always confirm the details on the original posting, salary and location can change after publication.

Listing sourced from Company boards.

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$347,000 to $445,000 · You'll be taken to the employer's careers page.