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OpenAI

Firmware Engineer, RTOS, Consumer Devices

San Francisco
Salary
$347K - $385K
Level
Mid
Work type
Hybrid · San Francisco

Not stated in the posting: visa.

Open. First seen 7 March 2026.

Apply on the company's site →

About the role

About the Team

The Software Engineering Firmware team builds reliable, high-performance systems on custom hardware. We work closely with hardware engineers to design, optimize, and ship software that bridges cutting-edge devices and real-world constraints like memory, power, and latency. Our work spans early prototyping through product launch, ensuring that our embedded platforms are robust, efficient, and production-ready.

About the Role

As a Firmware Engineer, you will design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices. You’ll own low-level bring-up, write production C/C++ code, and partner closely with hardware teams to deliver reliable, high-performance systems.

We’re looking for engineers with deep embedded expertise, strong debugging skills, and a passion for building systems that perform under real-world conditions.

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

In this role, you will:

  • Design, implement, and debug software for embedded devices.
  • Contribute to defining software requirements, interfaces, and test plans.
  • Bring up and debug new boards.
  • Analyze performance, memory, and power profiles and implement optimizations.
  • Investigate field issues, perform root-cause analysis, and deliver robust fixes.
  • Foster good software engineering practices.

You might thrive in this role if you:

  • Have deep experience shipping embedded systems (around 10+ years).
  • Are proficient in C and C++.
  • Are familiar with embedded toolchains, operating systems, and debugging tools.
  • Have experience with both rapid prototyping and scalable product development.
  • (Nice to have) Have experience with Zephyr RTOS.
  • (Nice to have) Have worked with networking/wireless stacks (BLE, Wi-Fi).
  • (Nice to have) Have experience with Linux kernel development.

About OpenAI

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.

OpenAI's standard text

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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

What this role asks for

Standard for embedded / hardware roles

C++ · Embedded Systems

Common in embedded / hardware postings at any company.

55% of this description is written for the role. The rest is OpenAI's standard text, folded away below.

Read against OpenAI's other open postings on this site.

The team: Software HIRES STEADILY

This role is one of 20 open in Software. 5 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in October: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.

WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS

Embedded Systems (15 of 20), C++ (12 of 20), C (10 of 20), Rust (9 of 20), Linux (7 of 20), Linux Kernel (7 of 20), Python (7 of 20)

OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM

From the team and dates on OpenAI's own job board.

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