About this role
The day-to-day work for this Software Engineer, Enterprise Controls involves designing and building the core backend services that manage permissions, governance, and administration for OpenAI products like ChatGPT and Codex. This role focuses on creating the security and access layers that allow organizations to confidently use these powerful AI tools by providing granular controls over who and what can access them. The team is responsible for developing scalable, reusable services and intuitive administration experiences that form a shared controls foundation for internal teams to safely introduce new features. This work directly impacts how users and agents interact with the platform, ensuring operations remain within defined organizational boundaries.
This position exists to bridge complex backend platform engineering with crucial enterprise product requirements. The engineer will translate ambiguous needs from administrators into clear, predictable system behavior and robust technical specifications. They will lead the technical design and delivery for major initiatives concerning access sharing and governance across multiple OpenAI products. The role requires someone who can operate at a high level of abstraction while remaining hands-on in implementation and production operations.
An ideal candidate possesses deep backend expertise coupled with strong product judgment. They thrive in environments where they must define system behavior from abstract enterprise needs and ensure the reliability and security of critical shared services. This role is suited for an experienced engineer who enjoys owning complex systems and influencing the technical direction of a major product line.
What you will do
- Design and build backend services responsible for permissions, authorization, and governance across ChatGPT, Codex, and OpenAI APIs.
- Develop sharing capabilities between people and agents, implementing clear access rules and enterprise controls that are understandable to both administrators and users.
- Construct reusable services and APIs that support workspace administration and console experiences as OpenAI products evolve.
- Lead the architecture and delivery for complex initiatives, coordinating with product and engineering partners on requirements and rollout plans.
- Translate enterprise needs into clear configuration, predictable permission behavior, and maintainable systems that other product teams can utilize.
- Own the reliability, security, and performance of the services through rigorous testing, observability, and continuous improvement.
What you need
- Possesses at least nine years of professional backend software engineering experience, specifically excluding internships, with a history of building and operating production services.
- Demonstrates deep backend engineering expertise and a proven track record of shipping complex product or platform capabilities that customers rely on.
- Has experience providing technical leadership for substantial initiatives, making key architectural decisions, and coordinating cross-team delivery while remaining hands-on.
- Requires strong proficiency in a backend language such as Python, Go, Rust, Java, or C++, along with a solid understanding of software design and systems fundamentals.
- Experience designing distributed services, APIs, and data models, including a clear understanding of reliability, consistency, scalability, and performance tradeoffs.
- Must have experience building authorization, permissions, or enterprise governance systems, including the skill to translate access policies into reliable application behavior.
- Requires strong product judgment and communication skills necessary to convert ambiguous user and administrator needs into practical technical decisions.
Nice to have
- Experience with distributed systems design
Benefits
- Salary range of $230K – $385K
- Offers Equity
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the typical compensation range for this role?
The role offers a salary ranging from $230K to $385K, in addition to equity compensation.
What is the primary technology stack used for backend development?
The required proficiency includes backend languages such as Python, Go, Rust, Java, or C++.
How is technical leadership demonstrated in this position?
Technical leadership involves leading the architecture and delivery for complex initiatives and coordinating delivery across teams while maintaining a hands-on approach.
What is the team structure like?
The work is situated within Enterprise Engineering, focusing on Enterprise Controls & Console.