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Operating Systems Engineer, Connectivity & Networking | Consumer Devices

openai

San Francisco
Uncategorized Systems Analyst

Job Score

80 pts
On-site model (+70) Systems Analyst (+10)

About the Team

OpenAI Consumer Devices is building the next generation of products that bring powerful AI into people’s everyday lives. Guided by OpenAI’s mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity, our team combines world-class researchers, engineers, designers, and operators who care deeply about creating useful, intuitive, and responsible technology. You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside exceptional people on ambitious, zero-to-one challenges at the intersection of hardware, software, and AI. This is a chance to help define an entirely new category of products—and shape how people experience AI in the future.

Our team works across systems software and product engineering to build reliable consumer devices and the platforms behind them. We develop the connectivity and networking foundations that support communication across OpenAI products and systems.

About the Role

As an Operating Systems Engineer focused on connectivity and networking, you will design, develop, and maintain the OS capabilities that enable reliable, secure, and efficient communication across OpenAI products and systems.

Your work will span Wi-Fi and Bluetooth frameworks, IP networking, and advanced network services and policy. You’ll develop OS services, libraries, and interfaces for a broad range of connectivity needs, make design decisions across software boundaries, and carry solutions through development, integration, and production.

In this role, you will:

  • Build connectivity foundations: Design, implement, and maintain OS services, frameworks, and APIs for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and IP networking.

  • Develop reusable network capabilities: Build connection management, network configuration and selection, service discovery, and routing capabilities.

  • Enable secure communication: Develop network services and policies for secure communication, traffic management, and isolation across varied network environments.

  • Resolve issues across the stack: Investigate correctness, concurrency, interoperability, and reliability issues across OS components, protocol stacks, and application interfaces.

  • Improve performance and efficiency: Use tracing, profiling, and repeatable measurements to improve latency, throughput, resource use, and power efficiency.

  • Validate real-world reliability: Build diagnostic tools, representative workloads, and automated tests to validate interoperability and failure recovery across changing network and operating conditions, measure reliability improvements, and protect gains with regression coverage.

  • Deliver maintainable product capabilities: Partner with hardware, firmware, security, platform, and application engineers to translate system requirements into shipped capabilities and clear, maintainable interfaces for integration and troubleshooting.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Substantial hands-on experience developing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality in operating-system frameworks, system services, or connectivity middleware.

  • Strong understanding of IP networking, including IPv4/IPv6, TCP/UDP, DNS, DHCP, routing, and socket behavior, with practical experience implementing and debugging networked systems.

  • Experience implementing advanced networking capabilities in one or more areas such as routing and network policy, VPNs and tunneling, traffic management, or network isolation.

  • Experience designing and maintaining platform APIs and the services behind them, including connection lifecycle management and integration with other OS components.

  • Proficiency in C++ for systems development, including concurrent programming, memory ownership, and resource lifetime management.

  • Strong understanding of asynchronous systems, interprocess communication, and failure handling.

  • Experience diagnosing complex connectivity issues using system traces, protocol captures, logs, and structured debugging.

  • Ability to work across disciplines, make sound technical tradeoffs, and carry solutions from investigation through implementation and validation.

You might thrive in this role if you:

  • Have delivered connectivity capabilities in shipped products and resolved interoperability issues across software stacks and third-party implementations.

  • Bring depth in transport protocols and performance, including QUIC, congestion control, multi-path networking, or operation across multiple network interfaces.

  • Have experience with network virtualization, proxies, NAT, firewalls, or policy enforcement within an operating system.

  • Have improved connectivity performance or power consumption, supported by repeatable measurements and regression coverage.

  • Understand security and privacy considerations in connectivity services, including authentication, permissions, and credential handling.

  • Are proficient in Rust for systems programming.

  • Take ownership of complete solutions and follow problems across framework, service, and underlying stack boundaries.

  • Use experiments and measurements to challenge assumptions and guide technical decisions.

  • Work constructively across disciplines and make careful tradeoffs among functionality, security, reliability, performance, power, and maintainability.

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.

To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

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About Systems Analyst

The Systems Analyst is the professional responsible for analyzing, designing, and implementing technology solutions that meet business needs. They act as a bridge between business areas and the development team, ensuring that systems deliver real value to the organization.

Key skills include requirements gathering and analysis, process modeling (BPMN), data modeling, technical and functional documentation, system integration (APIs, microservices), and knowledge of ERPs and CRMs. Tools like Jira, Confluence, Visio, and project management platforms are essential.

Systems Analysts in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master agile requirements analysis (user stories, backlog), system integration, and solution architecture. The field offers opportunities from junior analyst to solution architect, with a focus on efficiency, quality, and technological innovation.

Discover Other Areas

Understand the scope of work, key skills, and tools used in different career areas.

About UX Design

The User Experience (UX) Design area focuses on optimizing the overall user experience when interacting with a product or service. UX professionals conduct user research (UX Research), map journeys, create wireframes, perform usability tests, and define navigation flows to ensure the product is intuitive, useful, and meets users' real needs.

About Frontend

The Frontend area is responsible for creating the visual interfaces that users interact with on websites and web applications. Frontend professionals combine technical skills with design to deliver intuitive, responsive, and accessible digital experiences.

Key skills include HTML, CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue, build tools (Webpack, Vite), CSS (Tailwind, Sass), testing (Jest, Cypress), and knowledge of web performance and accessibility (WCAG). Familiarity with design systems and reusable components is a differentiator.

Frontend developers in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master React, Next.js, web performance, and accessibility. The field offers opportunities from junior developer to frontend architect, with a focus on user experience, performance, and code quality.

About SEO Analyst

The SEO Analyst is the professional responsible for optimizing websites for search engines, increasing organic visibility and qualified traffic. With the growing importance of digital marketing, SEO professionals are fundamental to any online presence strategy.

Key skills include on-page and off-page SEO, technical SEO, keyword research, SEO audits, link building, optimized content creation, and metrics analysis. Tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, and Screaming Frog are essential for daily work.

SEO analysts in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master technical SEO, Core Web Vitals, and data-driven content strategies. The field offers opportunities from junior analyst to head of SEO, with a focus on organic growth, domain authority, and return on investment.

About Automation Engineer

The Automation Engineer is the professional responsible for designing, developing, and implementing solutions that automate manual and repetitive processes in IT, infrastructure, testing, and operations. They combine programming knowledge with DevOps and SRE vision to eliminate manual tasks and increase operational efficiency.

Key skills include Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible, Pulumi), CI/CD (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI), test automation (Selenium, Cypress, Playwright), network automation (Netconf, SDN), RPA (UiPath, Power Automate), and scripting (Python, Bash, PowerShell). Knowledge of Kubernetes, GitOps (ArgoCD, Flux), and automation platforms is a differentiator.

Automation Engineers in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who can create automated deployment pipelines, self-healing infrastructure, and internal developer platforms (IDP). The field offers opportunities from junior automation engineer to automation architect and head of automation.

About Fullstack

Fullstack developers are versatile professionals capable of working on both frontend and backend of web and mobile applications. They master multiple technologies and can build complete products end-to-end, from the user interface to server infrastructure.

Key skills include proficiency in at least one complete stack (React/Vue/Angular + Node.js/PHP/Python/Java), databases (SQL and NoSQL), REST/GraphQL APIs, Git versioning, CI/CD, and basic infrastructure knowledge (Docker, cloud). Clean architecture, DDD, and testing are important differentiators.

Fullstack developers are highly valued in startups and companies that need versatile and autonomous professionals. The field offers opportunities from junior developer to software architect, with a focus on complete delivery, holistic product vision, and ability to work across multiple application layers.

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Design Career Guide

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Marketing Career Guide

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Finance Career Guide

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Communication Career Guide

Journalism, PR, Corporate Communication, Content Marketing, and Multimedia Production.

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Administration Career Guide

Business Management, HR, Logistics, Consulting, Project Management, and Entrepreneurship.

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Data Career Guide

Data Science, Data Engineering, BI, Machine Learning, and AI. From training to the job market.

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Product Career Guide

Product Management, Product Ownership, Agile, Scrum, and OKRs. From strategy to execution.

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Tech & Remote Glossary

Stop getting lost in interviews and job descriptions

The job market, especially within tech and global companies, has developed its own dialect. Not understanding these acronyms can make you lose valuable opportunities or poorly negotiate your contract. To end this problem, we created the Definitive Glossary for the Remote Professional.

🏢 Work Models & Routine

Async (Asynchronous Work)
A communication model where responses don't need to be immediate. Instead of back-to-back meetings, the team relies on well-structured documents, threads, and messages. It's the gold standard for global companies spanning multiple time zones.
Sync (Synchronous Work)
The opposite of Async. It requires the team to be online and available at the same time for meetings, live chats, and real-time collaboration.
Daily / Stand-up
A quick daily meeting (usually 15 minutes) common in Agile (Scrum) methodologies. The team answers three questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Are there any blockers?
All-Hands / Town Hall
A company-wide meeting involving all employees. Usually led by the founders (C-Levels) to present results, new goals, and answer team questions.
1:1 (One-on-One)
A recurring individual meeting between a professional and their direct manager. It is used for career alignment, feedback, and problem-solving, not just for project status updates.

💰 Contracts, Benefits & Compensation

PTO (Paid Time Off)
Instead of strict, categorized leave policies, modern US companies usually offer a flexible pool of days (e.g., 20 days of PTO, or even "Unlimited PTO") that you can use for vacations, sick days, or personal matters, while receiving your regular compensation.
Equity / Stock Options
Company ownership. The startup offers you the right to buy shares at a heavily discounted strike price in the future. If the company grows, goes public, or is acquired, these shares can be highly lucrative.
Vesting (Vesting Schedule)
The rule that controls your Equity. It usually lasts 4 years. You don't get all the shares on day one; you "earn" them gradually as you stay with the company. A "1-year Cliff" means you must stay for at least one year to receive your first batch of shares.
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units)
Unlike Stock Options (where you have the right to buy the stock), RSUs are actual shares the company grants you as a bonus or part of your compensation package, following a strict Vesting schedule.
Independent Contractor (1099 / B2B)
The most common international hiring model for global talent working for US companies. You act as a service provider (business-to-business), receiving the gross salary (often six-figure compensation) without standard local payroll tax deductions at the source.

🤖 Recruitment & Hiring Process

ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
The "robot" that reads your resume. Software like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday are used to filter candidates by keywords before a human even looks at the document. (Pro tip: this is why your resume must be clean, semantic, and have the right keywords).
JD (Job Description)
The document that lists the responsibilities, technical requirements, and benefits of the open position.
Cultural Fit
The interview stage that evaluates if your core values, communication style, and worldview align with the company's culture. This is the ultimate test of your Soft Skills.
Onboarding
The integration process. It's the period of your first few weeks at the company, where you get your access credentials, learn about the culture, study the internal documentation, and understand how the product works.

🚀 How to use this to your advantage?

The secret isn't just knowing what these acronyms mean, but using them actively. If during an interview for a premium tech role you ask, "How does your PTO policy and Vesting schedule work?", the recruiter will immediately perceive you as a high-level professional, familiar with the global market standards.

The remote job market requires preparation. And having the right vocabulary is the first big step to securing six-figure proposals and standing out among thousands of applicants.

Expert Tip

The Back-End Development Market

The Back-End Development Market: Barriers, Opportunities, and the Path to the Top

Behind every brilliant application, revolutionary artificial intelligence, or successful fintech, there is an invisible and robust ecosystem. Welcome to the Back-End universe.

The Modern Back-End Paradox: Did AI Steal the Jobs?

With the rise of tools like GitHub Copilot and Cursor, many junior developers wonder if the Back-End career is threatened. The short answer is: no. In fact, it has evolved.

Artificial Intelligence has made writing basic "CRUD" (Create, Read, Update, Delete) code trivial. However, the market no longer pays six-figure salaries for writing repetitive code. The global market is actively hunting for Software Engineers—professionals who understand architecture, resilience, latency, and scalability. The Back-End didn't die; the bar was simply raised.

Barriers to Entry: What Separates Juniors from Seniors

Entering Back-End development today requires overcoming technical barriers that go far beyond mastering a programming language (like Java, C#, Go, or Python). Key barriers include:

  • System Design: Knowing how to design a system that supports 100 users is easy. Designing one that handles 1 million requests per second requires deep knowledge of load balancing, caching (Redis/Memcached), and message queues (RabbitMQ/Kafka).
  • Data Complexity: The debate is no longer just "SQL vs. NoSQL". It is about data modeling, replication, sharding, and how to avoid database bottlenecks in distributed systems.
  • Security: With data breaches costing millions, companies require developers to master security practices from day one. Not knowing the vulnerabilities listed by the OWASP Top 10 is a dealbreaker for premium remote roles.
  • DevOps and Cloud Culture: The modern Back-End developer must understand containerization (Docker), orchestration (Kubernetes), and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure).

Golden Opportunities: Where is the Money?

For those who overcome these barriers, the market is a blue ocean of opportunities, especially for US/Global Remote work.

  • Migration to Microservices and Serverless: Corporate giants continue to dismantle legacy monoliths. Professionals who understand the patterns described by Martin Fowler are highly sought after.
  • High-Performance Languages: While traditional languages maintain their corporate strength, the use of Go (Golang) and Rust has skyrocketed for systems requiring massive concurrency and low memory footprint (Green Computing).
  • AI Infrastructure: AI models don't run in a vacuum. There is a massive demand for Back-End engineers proficient in Python and C++ to build data pipelines (MLOps) and the APIs that serve these models in real time.

Success Stories: Architectural Decisions That Changed the Game

True Back-End engineering shines when solving impossible problems. Let's look at real-market examples:

The Discord Case (Migration to Rust): Discord faced latency spikes in its core Read States service, originally written in Go. Because Go's Garbage Collector caused critical millisecond freezes, the team rewrote the service in Rust, completely eliminating latency spikes and supporting trillions of messages with absurd efficiency. This proved the value of choosing the right tool for performance limits.

The Netflix Case (Pioneering Microservices): Netflix transformed a monolithic system that broke under pressure into an architecture of thousands of independently managed microservices. They pioneered the concept of Chaos Engineering, purposely shutting down production servers to ensure their Back-End was resilient to failure.

Practical Tips: How to Land Premium Global Jobs

  1. Master the Fundamentals: Before learning the trendy framework of the month, study data structures, algorithms, and time complexity (Big-O Notation). This is exactly what will be tested in high-level technical interviews (Whiteboard interviews).
  2. Build a Problem-Focused Portfolio: A GitHub repository with a "To-Do List" won't impress anyone. Build an API that handles asynchronous image processing, create a scalable URL shortener, or engineer a messaging system using WebSockets and Redis.
  3. Study Real Cloud Architecture: Get solutions-based certifications (like AWS Certified Developer or Solutions Architect). These serve as a "Seal of Approval" to bypass strict Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Greenhouse or Ashby.
  4. Flawless Technical Communication: According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, the highest-paying roles require asynchronous global collaboration. Your code documentation, commit messages, and PR reviews must be pristine and professional.

Verdict: Is a Career in Back-End Worth It?

Absolutely. If you are an analytical person who loves solving complex puzzles and cares about the security and efficiency of things no one sees, the Back-End is your place.

It is a career virtually immune to visual fads. While Front-End libraries change every few years, the fundamentals of relational databases, networks, and operating systems remain the same. It is a rock-solid foundation for a highly lucrative and globalized career.