Research Scientist / Research Engineer — Early Career Cohort
About the Program OpenAI is hiring a small cohort of exceptional early-career researchers and engineers to join OpenAI Research. This opportunity is designed primarily for current undergraduate students and recent graduates who have demonstrated technical ability through elite competitions and challenges.
What this role actually needs.
Research Scientist / Research Engineer — Early Career Cohort at OpenAI in San Francisco. UpJobz keeps this listing high-signal for applicants targeting serious high-tech roles across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. About the Program OpenAI is hiring a small cohort of exceptional early-career researchers and engineers to join OpenAI Research. This opportunity is designed primarily for current undergraduate students and recent graduates who have demonstrated technical ability through elite competitions and challenges.
Day-to-day expectations
A clear list of the work this role is designed to cover.
- A top competitor in mathematics or programming competitions (e.g., Olympiads, Putnam, ICPC, or similar contests)
- A top performer in an OpenAI-hosted Challenge or similar
- A mathematician, physicist, or quantitative researcher interested in the foundations of intelligence
- A builder or hacker who has created ambitious technical systems or research prototypes
- An exceptional early-career engineer or researcher with strong technical intuition
- Demonstrated exceptional mathematical or algorithmic problem-solving ability
What a strong candidate brings
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- Demonstrated exceptional mathematical or algorithmic problem-solving ability
- Strong ability to reason about complex technical or mathematical systems
- Comfort with linear algebra, probability, statistics, and optimization
- Evidence of rapid independent learning and technical creativity
- Ability to obtain and maintain authorization to work in the United States by the program start date. Candidates who cannot secure appropriate work authorization by the start date may not be eligible for this cohort.
- High-level results in Olympiads, Putnam, ICPC, or similar competitions
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Next moves
- Tailor your resume around ai and llm instead of sending a generic application.
- Use the first two bullets of your application to connect your background directly to research scientist / research engineer — early career cohort is a high-signal on-site role in san francisco, and it is most realistic for united states residents.
- Open the role quickly if it fits and bookmark three similar jobs before you leave the page.
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- $295K is visible, so calibrate your application around the posted range.
- Use united states residents as part of your positioning so the recruiter does not have to infer it.
- Show concrete examples of succeeding in on-site environments.
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