OpenAI

Technical Program Manager, Hardware Systems

OpenAI • $135K — $160K *
San Francisco, CA 94112In-Person
Telecommunications & Hardware
Less than 5 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in hardware development and integration.
  • Strong understanding of mechanical and electrical systems.
  • Experience with PCB integration and compact mechanical assemblies.
  • Ability to manage complex electromechanical programs.
  • Familiarity with tactile sensor properties and requirements.
  • Proven skills in cross-functional collaboration and decision-making.

Responsibilities

  • Drive functional requirements for end effector sub-systems and sensing technologies.
  • Collaborate with research teams on system-level integration and testing configurations.
  • Monitor field performance of hardware and engage stakeholders for resolution.
  • Coordinate design integration of tactile sensing and mechanical structures.
  • Establish mechanisms for design reviews and production readiness.
  • Partner with manufacturing on prototype builds and assembly constraints.
  • Lead tradeoff discussions across material, performance, and cost factors.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work in a dynamic team environment.
  • Hands-on experience with cutting-edge robotic technologies.
  • Potential for career growth within a fast-paced company.
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams across engineering and operations.
Full Job Description
About the Role

We are looking for a Member of Technical Program Staff to drive the development, prototyping, and integration of innovative hardware solutions used for data collection as well as robotic systems. You will work closely with mechanical, electrical, test, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to set functional requirements, coordinate hardware iterations, and move solutions from prototype through early production.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week.

In this role you will:
  • Drive functional requirements for various end effector sub-systems, sensing technologies, integration of various peripherals into one system to drive data collection for model development, related milestones, and validation criteria.
  • Collaborate with research teams, align system-level integration requirements, deliverables, calibration needs, configurations to test, etc.
  • Work closely with the operations team in getting the data collection hardware rolled out, monitor the field failures as those pop-up and make sure the right stakeholders are involved in resolution.
  • Coordinate the design and integration of tactile sensing materials, mechanical structures, PCBAs, interconnects, harnesses, and signal paths into robotic systems.
  • Establish effective mechanisms for design reviews, drawing and documentation readiness, change control, design releases, decision tracking, characterization and validation readiness, and production readiness.
  • Partner with manufacturing, test, and supply chain on prototype builds, assembly constraints, DFM/DFA, end-of-line test requirements, equipment lead times, handoffs, and the transition to manufacturable assemblies.
  • Drive tradeoff decisions with the right stakeholders across material selection, mechanical performance, functionality, reliability, scaling, cost, quality, schedule, and lead time for both robot and data collection hardware by collaborating cross-functionally and quantifying impact to the program.

You might thrive in this role if you:
  • Understand material properties, compliance, bonding, packaging, tolerances, and integration constraints that affect tactile sensor performance in robotic systems.
  • Have experience integrating PCBAs, interconnects, small form factor connectors, analog signals, and EMI-sensitive hardware into compact mechanical assemblies.
  • Enjoy occasional hands-on work as well planning for building, testing, and debugging physical systems, including characterization and validation setups, calibration, durability, signal quality, and failure modes.
  • Have led complex electromechanical hardware programs from evolving requirements through prototype builds and manufacturing.
  • Understand the deliverables for data collection hardware, manage expectations and fast iterations, have had to make judgment calls without having to wait for a decision to emerge from large meetings to keep things moving.

What success looks like:
  • Functional requirements, mechanical interfaces, performance targets, characterization plans, validation plans, and reliability goals are aligned across engineering teams.
  • Fit, alignment, bonding, wear, signal integrity, EMI, calibration, durability, functionality, reliability, and scaling risks are surfaced early and driven to closure.
  • Design reviews, drawings, documentation, change control, characterization and validation setups, and production-release mechanisms are operating effectively.
  • Prototype builds transition toward manufacturable assemblies with DFM/DFA, end-of-line test requirements, equipment lead times, and cross-functional tradeoffs quantified and resolved.
  • Supply chain risks are well accounted for, manufacturing process or design improvements are well rationalized with as clear scope as possible for a given phase, hardware and firmware teams are aligned on priorities across multiple systems.


About OpenAI

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory consisting of the for-profit corporation OpenAI LP and its parent company, the non-profit OpenAI Inc. The company was founded in 2015 by a group of technology leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and John Schulman. OpenAI's mission is to develop and promote friendly AI for the betterment of humanity. The company has developed a number of cutting-edge AI technologies, including GPT-3, a language processing system that can generate human-like text. OpenAI has received funding from a number of high-profile investors, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
Learn more about OpenAI
Size
100 employees
Industry
Information Technology
Founded
2015
* Ladders Estimates

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