Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering

About the Team OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team turns research breakthroughs into production-grade systems. We embed deeply with customers to solve high-leverage problems and act as the delivery engine for our most complex large-scale engagements. We move quickly from prototype to production and surface reusable patterns that shape our platform. We operate at the intersection of deployment and development – working closely with OpenAI Research, Product and Partnerships. About the Role As a Technical Deployment Lead (TDL), you will define how OpenAI delivers complex systems to Semiconductor customers. You will own how solutions are scoped, built, shipped, and adopted across high-value engineering workflows such as RTL design, verification, and physical implementation. You’ll translate business outcomes into a technical plan, run day-to-day execution across FDEs, Researchers, and Customer Engineers, and partner with customer teams to ensure delivery supports their goals. You will focus on the semiconductor vertical to deploy next-generation AI capabilities. You will own delivery end-to-end: embedding with customers to map workflows and success criteria, ensuring components ship on time, and leading readiness and change management for adoption. You’ll track progress, manage dependencies, make sequencing decisions, and drive 0→1 prototypes through MVP and scale. You will also share field insights with Product and Research to guide roadmap and priorities. Success will be measured first and foremost by impact - deployments that deliver measurable value against customer goals, drive adoption, and become critical to their workflows. Additional measures of success include delivery reliability (milestones hit, low reopen/churn), operating leverage (patterns reused across deployments), judgment under pressure, and product impact (field signal that shifts roadmaps/architectures). This is a high-trust, high-autonomy role. Success requires deep technical project m

About Flexport: At Flexport, we believe global trade can move the human race forward. That’s why it’s our mission to make global commerce so easy there will be more of it. We’re shaping the future of a $10T industry with solutions powered by innovative technology and exceptional people. Today, companies of all sizes—from emerging brands to Fortune 500s—use Flexport technology to move more than $19B of merchandise across 112 countries a year. The recent global supply chain crisis has put Flexport center stage as we continue to play a pivotal role in how goods move around the world. We are proud to have the support of the best investors in the game who believe in our mission, solutions and people. Ready to tackle global challenges that impact business, society, and the environment? Come join us. The opportunity The Autonomous Freight Systems team is a brand new, AI-first engineering team in San Francisco. This team will own Flexport’s client-facing rates platform and the self-serve freight booking experience—two of the highest-leverage surfaces in our Client App that dictate how clients see pricing and book freight without manual intervention. As a Staff Engineer, you will be the technical anchor for our next-generation AI-powered rates platform. We aren't just building a UI; we are building AI agents that handle real logistics work: parsing complex rate sheets, managing pricing intelligence across ocean, air, and trucking, and making "Self-Serve" a reality for thousands of shippers. You will build the intelligence layer that allows clients to commit freight on technology alone, with no account executive and no operations touch. This is a ground-floor opportunity to shape technical direction, set up a new codebase, and build the platform that moves Flexport from an assisted-sales model to a tech-run one for the long tail of our client base. You will partner with Pricing, Sales, Ops, and Design on hard domain problems and ship to the most-used client

About Flexport: At Flexport, we believe global trade can move the human race forward. That’s why it’s our mission to make global commerce so easy there will be more of it. We’re shaping the future of a $10T industry with solutions powered by innovative technology and exceptional people. Today, companies of all sizes—from emerging brands to Fortune 500s—use Flexport technology to move more than $19B of merchandise across 112 countries a year. The recent global supply chain crisis has put Flexport center stage as we continue to play a pivotal role in how goods move around the world. We are proud to have the support of the best investors in the game who believe in our mission, solutions and people. Ready to tackle global challenges that impact business, society, and the environment? Come join us. The Opportunity The Autonomous Freight Systems team is a brand new, AI-first engineering team in San Francisco, building Flexport's client-facing rates platform and self-serve freight booking experience from the ground up. We own two of the highest-leverage surfaces in the Client App: how clients see pricing and how they book freight without manual intervention. As a Senior Engineer, you will own significant technical domains end-to-end, not just features, but whole problem spaces. You will drive the engineering of systems that power rate visibility, pricing intelligence, and AI-assisted booking across ocean, air, and trucking. You don't wait to be told what to build next; you identify the highest-leverage problems, propose solutions, and see them through to production. You will be a technical force multiplier on the team: raising the bar on code quality, helping junior engineers grow, and shipping with a velocity and confidence that comes from deep ownership. This is a ground-floor opportunity to build the platform that moves Flexport from an assisted-sales model to a tech-run one for the long tail of our client base—turning the complexity of global trade into a s

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 a highly skilled Physical Design Engineer with deep expertise in physical design and methodology. This individual contributor role sits within our physical design team and is central to delivering power, performance, and area (PPA) optimized datapath and interconnect solutions for next-generation AI accelerators. You’ll work closely with RTL designers to define and execute on physical design strategies. You will develop tools, flows and methodologies to increase team productivity. Your work will directly impact silicon’s performance and cost efficiency, as well as the team’s execution velocity and quality. In this role, you will: Develop, build and own tools, flows and methodologies for physical implementation Own physical implementation of floorplan blocks from floorplanning to final signoff Collaborate with RTL designers to drive optimal block implementation solutions Analyze and optimize design for timing, power, and area trade-offs, working in collaboration with EDA vendors and ASIC partners Qualifications: BS w/ 4+ or MS with 2+ years or PhD with 0-1 year(s) of relevant industry experience in physical design and methodology development Demonstrated success in taping out complex silicon designs Hands-on experience with block physical implementation and PPA convergence Strong coding experience with python, bazel, TCL Strong experience building physical design tools, flows and methodologies Strong understanding of microarchitecture, RTL design,

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 Role We are seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to lead the development of motor mechanical designs and prototype hardware for advanced robotic systems. You will own stator and rotor mechanical development from early concepts and detailed design through hands-on builds and prototype validation, partnering closely with electromagnetic, electrical, test, and manufacturing teams. This role focuses on the design, integration, and validation of motor components and prototype processes, including laminations, stack assemblies, bobbins, winding interfaces, and fixtures. You will help drive motor development from initial design through repeatable low-volume builds while establishing the tooling, work instructions, and validation practices needed for future robotic platforms. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person presence 4 days a week. In this role, you will Own stator and rotor mechanical designs and released CAD and drawings, including geometry, interfaces, fits, tolerances, retention, assembly access, and mechanical validation. Develop laminations, stack assembly methods, bobbins, and winding interfaces that control alignment, insulation, conductor placement, and end-turn packaging. Design, fabricate, and debug fixtures for winding, stacking, assembly, alignment, and inspection. Build and troubleshoot prototypes. Use measurements, defects, rework, and assembly effort to improve designs and processes. Establish low-volume prototype production with equipment, build sequences, work instructions, revision control, traceability

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 Role We are seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer to lead the design, integration, and sustaining engineering of mechanical subsystems in robotic platforms. You will work closely with experienced engineers and cross-functional partners to set functional requirements, develop and iterate on hardware to meet program expectations. This role is aimed at candidates with strong fundamentals in mechanical system design — including tolerance, alignment, load paths, wear, and failure modes — and robotics. You will contribute to real hardware programs moving from prototype through early production. You will lead both new subsystem development and ongoing improvements to existing systems based on testing, field performance, and manufacturing feedback. This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person presence 4 days a week. In this role, you will Lead the design and iteration of mechanical subsystems, including structures, mechanisms, and actuators. Create and maintain CAD models, assemblies, and drawings with appropriate tolerancing and documentation. Build and test prototypes, supporting debugging of mechanical issues such as fit, alignment, friction, and wear. Assist in developing test methods and executing validation to evaluate performance, durability, and failure modes. Work with cross-functional teams to integrate mechanical components with sensors, actuators, and control systems. Support transition of designs from prototype to manufacturable assemblies, incorporating DFM and DFA considerations. Collaborate with manufacturing partners