Software Engineer, System Enablement
About the Team The Scaling team is responsible for the architectural and engineering backbone of OpenAI’s infrastructure. We design and deliver advanced systems that support the deployment and operation of cutting-edge AI models.
What this role actually needs.
About the Team The Scaling team is responsible for the architectural and engineering backbone of OpenAI’s infrastructure. We design and deliver advanced systems that support the deployment and operation of cutting-edge AI models. Responsibilities: - Own the end-to-end bring-up and bootstrap path for new systems and compute nodes from bare metal/early access in lab or production/cloud environments to schedulable fleet capacity : image build, user-data/config, cluster join, and readiness gates. - Build and maintain “first-class” golden image + provisioning workflows across lab, and production environments, including working with partner-provided base images and reconciling OS/version requirements. - Work with partner teams to integrate nodes into our fleet infrastructure and IaC pipelines (Terraform, Chef, etc.), ensuring cloud resources map cleanly onto our internal lifecycle expectations (e.g., VMSS/instance pools, image references). - Partner with scheduling and platform owners to ensure new hardware is reachable and scheduled (pool definitions, network/WAN connectivity/routing, admission controls, platform-specific quirks), including cases where new SKUs require changes for scheduling integration. - Drive registration and inventory correctness (e.g., systems that track nodes and their metadata), including hands-on support to get nodes registered and visible end-to-end. - Collaborate with partner teams to implement baseline health + telemetry bring-up: minimum viable health signals, pass/fail checks, and automated reporting suitable for early ramp decisions Requirements: - Work with partner teams to integrate nodes into our fleet infrastructure and IaC pipelines (Terraform, Chef, etc.), ensuring cloud resources map cleanly onto our internal lifecycle expectations (e.g., VMSS/instance pools, image references). - Partner with scheduling and platform owners to ensure new hardware is reachable and scheduled (pool definitions, network/WAN connectivity/routing, admission controls, platform-specific quirks), including cases where new SKUs require changes for scheduling integration. - Drive registration and inventory correctness (e.g., systems that track nodes and their metadata), including hands-on support to get nodes registered and visible end-to-end. - Collaborate with partner teams to implement baseline health + telemetry bring-up: minimum viable health signals, pass/fail checks, and automated reporting suitable for early ramp decisions - Debug issues across layers: PXE/boot-loader, UEFI/BIOS, BMC, OS bring-up, NIC/network reachability, kubelet/control-plane connectivity, storage constraints, and early rack/lab realities. - BS in CS/EE (or equivalent practical experience). Company context: OpenAI builds frontier AI systems, research infrastructure, and applied products for developers, enterprises, and global users.
Day-to-day expectations
OpenAI lists these responsibilities for the Software Engineer, System Enablement role.
- Own the end-to-end bring-up and bootstrap path for new systems and compute nodes from bare metal/early access in lab or production/cloud environments to schedulable fleet capacity : image build, user-data/config, cluster join, and readiness gates.
- Build and maintain “first-class” golden image + provisioning workflows across lab, and production environments, including working with partner-provided base images and reconciling OS/version requirements.
- Work with partner teams to integrate nodes into our fleet infrastructure and IaC pipelines (Terraform, Chef, etc.), ensuring cloud resources map cleanly onto our internal lifecycle expectations (e.g., VMSS/instance pools, image references).
- Partner with scheduling and platform owners to ensure new hardware is reachable and scheduled (pool definitions, network/WAN connectivity/routing, admission controls, platform-specific quirks), including cases where new SKUs require changes for scheduling integration.
- Drive registration and inventory correctness (e.g., systems that track nodes and their metadata), including hands-on support to get nodes registered and visible end-to-end.
- Collaborate with partner teams to implement baseline health + telemetry bring-up: minimum viable health signals, pass/fail checks, and automated reporting suitable for early ramp decisions
What a strong candidate brings
These requirements are extracted from the source listing and normalized for UpJobz readers.
- Work with partner teams to integrate nodes into our fleet infrastructure and IaC pipelines (Terraform, Chef, etc.), ensuring cloud resources map cleanly onto our internal lifecycle expectations (e.g., VMSS/instance pools, image references).
- Partner with scheduling and platform owners to ensure new hardware is reachable and scheduled (pool definitions, network/WAN connectivity/routing, admission controls, platform-specific quirks), including cases where new SKUs require changes for scheduling integration.
- Drive registration and inventory correctness (e.g., systems that track nodes and their metadata), including hands-on support to get nodes registered and visible end-to-end.
- Collaborate with partner teams to implement baseline health + telemetry bring-up: minimum viable health signals, pass/fail checks, and automated reporting suitable for early ramp decisions
- Debug issues across layers: PXE/boot-loader, UEFI/BIOS, BMC, OS bring-up, NIC/network reachability, kubelet/control-plane connectivity, storage constraints, and early rack/lab realities.
- BS in CS/EE (or equivalent practical experience).
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Source: jobs.ashbyhq.com · Source ID: e1321408-91da-4ef3-8ac6-2e1da1be796f · Confidence: 97/100 · Last checked: May 7, 2026
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