Prototyping Lab Technician, Robotics

About the Position

Join OpenAI as a Prototyping Lab Technician, Robotics, and contribute to the cutting-edge development of general-purpose robotics. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires on-site presence 5 days a week.

Responsibilities

• Partner closely with engineers, researchers, and other members of the robotics team to support prototype development, experimentation, and hardware iteration.
• Build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair robotic systems and electromechanical assemblies spanning structural, electrical, sensing, and actuation subsystems.
• Design and fabricate fixtures, adapters, test equipment, and other prototype hardware that accelerate development efforts.
• Execute low-volume builds, engineering changes, and rework activities across robotic systems, including mechanical assemblies, wire harnesses, and custom electronics.
• Develop, execute, and support hardware experiments in partnership with engineering teams.
• Build and rework wire harnesses, custom electronics, and other prototype hardware used in robotic systems.
• Maintain lab equipment, tooling, inventory, and workspaces.
• Develop and refine processes that improve build quality, repeatability, documentation, and overall lab efficiency.
• Use software tools to configure hardware, collect data, document work, and interact with robotic systems.
• Identify technical risks, challenge assumptions when appropriate, and provide feedback that improves hardware reliability, manufacturability, and experimental quality.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience working hands-on with complex electromechanical or robotic systems.
• Highly effective at troubleshooting electrical systems and using common electronic test equipment.
• Comfortable interpreting schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, and technical documentation.
• Experience building, modifying, and debugging wire harnesses, custom electronics, and assemblies.
• Quickly understand the constraints of a problem, identify risks, and propose practical solutions.
• Excellent technical communicator who collaborates effectively across disciplines.
• Take pride in producing high-quality work and maintaining strong attention to detail.
• Thrive in fast-paced environments with a wide variety of projects and responsibilities.
• Comfortable learning unfamiliar tools, equipment, and technologies as projects evolve.
• Comfortable working with the Linux command line.

We Offer

• Compensation: $225K – $295K • Offers Equity
• 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.

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples' lives.

About the Company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. 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.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.