SOC Architect

Department: Scaling

Location: San Francisco

Compensation: $266K – $445K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

About the Team

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. Building on efforts like Jalapeño, the team is developing future generations of AI-native silicon and tightly integrated systems to power the next generation of frontier models. By co-designing chips, systems, tools, and methodologies, the team helps deliver faster, more efficient, and production-ready hardware for OpenAI’s supercomputing platform.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced SoC Architect to lead the definition and development of next-generation custom AI silicon for edge deployments. This role will be responsible for shaping the architecture of highly efficient, high-performance SoCs optimized for machine learning inference and on-device intelligence.

You will work cross-functionally with internal engineering teams and external ecosystem partners to translate product requirements into scalable silicon solutions, driving execution from concept through delivery.

In this role you will:

• Define the architecture and technical roadmap for custom SoCs targeted for edge applications.

• Drive system-level tradeoff analysis across compute, memory, interconnect, power, thermal, and cost constraints.

• Architect energy-efficient ML compute subsystems optimized for inference workloads and real-world deployment environments.

• Collaborate with internal hardware, software, systems, and product teams to align architecture with platform needs.

• Partner with external silicon vendors, IP providers, and manufacturing partners to execute development plans.

• Lead hardware/software co-design efforts to maximize performance per watt and end-to-end system efficiency.

• Guide implementation teams through microarchitecture, RTL development, validation, and bring-up phases.

• Operate effectively in agile development environments and help teams deliver against aggressive schedules and milestones.

You might thrive in this role if:

• Proven experience defining and delivering complex SoC or ASIC architectures from concept to production.

• Deep understanding of AI/ML accelerators, edge inference workloads, and energy-efficient compute design.

• Strong knowledge of SoC subsystems including CPU/GPU/NPU architectures, memory hierarchies, interconnects, and power management.

• Experience working with both internal engineering organizations and external strategic partners.

• Ability to lead cross-functional teams in fast-paced, execution-driven environments.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction across organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with edge AI devices, embedded systems, or consumer hardware platforms.

• Background in performance modeling, silicon cost optimization, and workload-driven architecture.

• Familiarity with advanced process nodes and modern semiconductor development flows.

To comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations, candidates for this role may need to meet certain legal status requirements as provided in those laws and regulations.

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. 

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.

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