About this role
The API Frontiers team at OpenAI builds the production services and core infrastructure that connect frontier AI models to developers through the Responses API, maintaining a strong focus on safety, speed, and reliability. Backend software engineers in this group bridge the gap between abstract research and practical application by translating new model capabilities into robust developer tools and dependable agent workflows.
Day-to-day engineering responsibilities involve designing clean developer interfaces, managing staged model rollouts, and investigating production issues to implement lasting architectural fixes. Ideal candidates possess a strong background in distributed systems and backend engineering, combined with the product judgment needed to turn complex AI research into intuitive APIs that developers can rely on for high-performance applications.
What you will do
- Design, build, and operate backend services and APIs that deliver frontier model capabilities to external developers.
- Collaborate closely with research, safety, and product teams to define API behaviors and execute safe, staged launches.
- Develop specialized API features for agent workflows, encompassing task delegation, parallel execution, and context sharing.
- Enhance the reliability of long-running requests by addressing challenges related to timeouts, cancellations, streaming, and background execution.
- Optimize request-processing performance and reduce tail latency through profiling, efficient systems programming, and persistent connections.
- Translate user feedback and production incidents into improved observability, diagnostics, and enduring product upgrades.
What you need
- Bring five or more years of professional experience building and operating production backend services or developer-facing APIs.
- Demonstrate strong software engineering fundamentals alongside practical knowledge of distributed systems, concurrency, and asynchronous execution.
- Utilize observability data and profiling tools to effectively diagnose production failures and performance bottlenecks.
- Exhibit product judgment and developer empathy with a proven history of turning complex technical capabilities into clear, dependable APIs.
- Take ownership of ambiguous technical problems from initial approach definition through to shipping and iterative improvement.
- Communicate clearly and collaborate effectively across engineering, research, product, and safety disciplines.
Nice to have
- Experience with Rust
- Familiarity with streaming protocols or WebSockets
- Background in long-running workflow systems
Benefits
- Offers Equity
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the compensation for this role?
The salary for this position is $266K – $445K and includes offers of equity.
Where is the position located?
This role is located in New York City.
What teams will I work with?
You will work closely with Research, Safety, Codex, and other API teams to bring new model capabilities into production and improve them through developer feedback.
What technologies and systems will I work on?
You will build and operate the services behind the Responses API, with a focus on distributed systems, streaming protocols, WebSockets, long-running workflow systems, and Rust.