OpenAI
More roles at OpenAIForward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Legal-SF
Part remote, part office, you need to live within commuting distance of a named location.
Hybrid · New York City
Employer listed it 2 months ago · Added 2 weeks ago
Been open since 2 months ago. Long-running listings are sometimes left up after the role is filled.
Salary
$185k to $300k per year
Location
Hybrid · New York City
Timezone
Not stated
Contract
Full-time
Experience
Mid
Category
Software
Published by the employer
What the advert says
Quoted word for word from the employer's advert. Where it says nothing, we say so.
- Working hours
- Not mentioned in the advert
- Where you can work from
This role is based in San Francisco or New York City.
- Contract
- Not mentioned in the advert
- Experience asked for
- Not mentioned in the advert
- Pay
- Not mentioned in the advert
Remote flexibility
Hybrid
This role is only partly remote, the employer expects time in the office around New York City, Hybrid, so you need to live within commuting distance.
What the employer says
- Source listing states candidate location: "New York City, 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.
Before you apply
Experience: employer states
Written as a requirement
- “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.”
Written as a nice-to-have
- “Have experience with legal technology, legal services, compliance-heavy workflows, or professional services; this is helpful but not required.”
Questions worth asking: Nomaders interpretation
- This role involves office time, but the advert does not say how often. Ask how many days a week are expected on site.
- The advert does not say whether this is employment or a contractor arrangement. Ask, as it affects tax and benefits.
Produced automatically from this advert's text; not reviewed by a person. The employer's own page is the final word.
About the role
About the team
OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with customers to turn research breakthroughs into production systems. We embed deeply with users to solve high-leverage problems. We move quickly from prototype to deployment and surface patterns that shape the platform. We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core development. We work closely with Product, Research, and Go-To-Market (GTM).
About the role
We are hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to build and deploy AI systems for legal work. You will embed deeply with customers—often working closely with senior legal practitioners—to identify the right first use case, rapidly prototype a solution, and prove measurable value. Early engagements may focus on creating a “hero” workflow that shows how OpenAI’s models can support legal analysis, drafting, research, or real-time work with complex case records.
You will own the technical work from discovery and proof of concept through production adoption, while translating customer workflows and constraints into clear product feedback. As the motion matures, you will turn successful deployments into repeatable patterns that can scale across larger accounts and the broader legal market.
This role is based in San Francisco or New York City. We use a hybrid work model of three days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance. Travel up to 50% may be required.
In this role, you will
Embed with law firms and legal teams to understand their workflows, identify high-value opportunities, and select the right initial use cases to prove value.
Build full-stack systems that deliver customer value and sharpen how we learn
Embed closely with customer teams, understand their needs, and guide adoption of what you build
Make trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality; adjust plans to protect delivery
Contribute directly in the code when progress or clarity depends on it
Codify working patterns into tools, playbooks, or building blocks that others can use
Share field feedback that helps Research and Product understand where the models succeed and where they can improve
You might thrive in this role if you
Bring 5+ years of software engineering, ML engineering, or technical deployment experience with customer-facing ownership in financial services or adjacent regulated industries.
Have experience with legal technology, legal services, compliance-heavy workflows, or professional services; this is helpful but not required.
Have owned complex AI or data-driven systems end-to-end, from scoping through production adoption, in environments where errors carry real financial or regulatory consequences.
Write and review production-grade code across backend and frontend systems using Python, JavaScript, or comparable stacks.
Have deployed systems powered by LLMs or generative models and understand how model behavior, evaluation, and guardrails affect user trust and business outcomes.
Communicate clearly across engineering, product, risk, compliance, and executive stakeholders, translating technical trade-offs into decision quality and risk posture.
Apply systems thinking with high execution standards, turning incidents, escalations, and failures into improved operating standards and repeatable deployment patterns.
Stay calm and decisive when delivery is urgent, ambiguous, and high-stakes.
About OpenAI
Requirements
The employer hasn't listed requirements separately, they're described in the role summary above and on the original listing.
Benefits
No benefits package published with this listing. Ask about it at first interview.
How to apply
- 1Check the flexibility label above, hybrid, matches where you plan to live and work.
- 2Tailor your CV to the role at OpenAI, mentioning your remote working experience.
- 3Apply directly on the employer's careers page using the button below. Nomaders never handles your application.
Found 17d ago. Last checked today. Always confirm the details on the original posting, salary and location can change after publication.
Listing sourced from Company boards.
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