Developer Experience Engineer
Mid · Full Time
Opens OpenAI's application page
Role
What you'll do.
As a Developer Experience Engineer at OpenAI, you will create compelling technical content, developer tools, and sample applications that empower developers globally to build innovative AI-native applications using Codex and frontier models like GPT-4, GPT-5.6, and multimodal capabilities. This role bridges product, engineering, and the developer community, requiring a combination of strong full-stack engineering skills, technical content creation expertise, and deep user empathy to drive adoption and success across OpenAI's developer platform. You will own end-to-end challenges, from crafting inspiring demos to gathering developer feedback and collaborating cross-functionally to shape the future of AI developer tools and APIs.
Responsibilities
- Design and Develop Showcase Applications: Build compelling demo applications and end-to-end sample projects that showcase OpenAI's frontier models (GPT-4, GPT-5.6, GPT-Image-2), Codex, multimodal capabilities, and AI agents. These applications must demonstrate best practices, be production-ready, and serve as reference implementations for developers building AI-native applications.
- Create Technical Educational Content: Produce high-quality technical content including in-depth tutorials, comprehensive blog posts, instructional videos, and well-documented code samples that educate developers on effective patterns for integrating OpenAI's APIs. Ensure content is accessible to various skill levels and optimized for search visibility and developer discoverability.
- Build and Nurture Developer Communities: Actively engage with local and global developer ecosystems through community forums, GitHub discussions, online channels, and in-person meetups. Foster vibrant communities around OpenAI's platform, encourage knowledge sharing, and build long-term relationships with technical founders, startup teams, and independent developers.
- Represent OpenAI at Industry Events: Present at developer conferences, hackathons, webinars, and other industry events as a knowledgeable and approachable advocate for developers. Demonstrate technical depth, answer complex questions about OpenAI's platform, and gather market intelligence to inform product decisions.
- Gather and Synthesize Developer Feedback: Conduct user interviews, surveys, and direct conversations with developers to understand pain points, feature requests, and improvement opportunities. Synthesize qualitative and quantitative feedback into actionable insights that inform product roadmap prioritization and engineering investments.
- Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with product managers, platform engineers, research teams, and GTM leaders to ensure seamless developer experiences across OpenAI's entire product journey, from initial onboarding through API integration to production deployment. Serve as a voice for developer needs in internal discussions.
- Contribute to Product Improvement: Identify opportunities to enhance OpenAI's developer-facing products, APIs, documentation portals, and developer tools based on hands-on experience building applications. Propose and prototype improvements that reduce friction and accelerate time-to-value for developers.
- Own Complex Challenges End-to-End: Independently manage projects from conception through delivery, proactively identifying gaps, seeking necessary resources, and developing new technical skills as required. Demonstrate ownership mentality, drive initiative in ambiguous environments, and adapt to rapidly evolving priorities in the fast-moving AI landscape.
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Full-Stack Development Proficiency
Expertise in modern programming languages (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, or similar) and frameworks with ability to architect and deliver complete applications from frontend to backend.
API Integration and Microservices
Strong understanding of building with APIs, managing authentication, rate limiting, error handling, and designing resilient integrations with external services.
Database and Data Management
Practical knowledge of relational (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and non-relational (MongoDB, Redis) databases; understanding of data modeling for AI applications.
Version Control and DevOps
Proficiency with Git workflows, CI/CD pipelines, containerization (Docker), and deployment practices to production environments.
LLM Application Development
Hands-on experience building applications that leverage large language models, including prompt optimization, fine-tuning, and managing model inference costs and latency.
Education
Computer Science or Related Field
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or equivalent practical experience demonstrating strong foundational computer science knowledge.
Experience
Software Engineering Experience
Minimum 3-5 years of professional full-stack software engineering experience, with demonstrated success shipping production systems used by external developers or users.
Technical Content or Advocacy
2+ years of experience creating technical content, building developer communities, presenting at conferences, or working in developer relations or technical marketing roles.
AI/ML Application Development
At least 1-2 years of professional experience building production applications utilizing machine learning models, specifically large language models or AI APIs.
Skills
Required
Full-Stack Software Engineering
Demonstrated experience building complete end-to-end applications across frontend, backend, and infrastructure layers with production-level code quality and architectural understanding.
Large Language Models and AI Integration
Hands-on experience integrating LLMs, GPT models, and AI capabilities into applications; understanding of prompt engineering, token management, and LLM API design patterns.
Technical Content Creation
Proven ability to create high-quality technical documentation, tutorials, blog posts, code samples, and video content that effectively communicates complex concepts to developer audiences.
API Design and Developer Tools
Familiarity with RESTful API design principles, SDK development, and building tools that prioritize developer ergonomics and ease of integration.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Strong ability to partner effectively with product managers, engineers, marketers, and external developer communities to align on priorities and drive adoption.
Developer Advocacy
Experience engaging with developer communities, presenting at technical events, and building relationships with technical founders and engineering teams.
Preferred
Multimodal AI Implementation
Nice to haveExperience working with multimodal capabilities including vision, audio, or other sensor modalities in machine learning applications.
Codex and Code Generation
Nice to havePrior experience with Codex, code completion models, or other code generation APIs in production environments.
Agent Development
Nice to haveHands-on experience designing and implementing AI agents, autonomous workflows, and complex LLM orchestration patterns.
Open Source Contributions
Nice to haveTrack record of contributing to open source projects, maintaining developer tools, or building communities around technical projects.
Developer Relations Experience
Nice to haveBackground in developer relations, technical evangelism, or developer marketing roles that required deep technical credibility.
AI Ethics and Safety Knowledge
Nice to haveUnderstanding of AI ethics principles, responsible AI development practices, and safety considerations in AI system deployment.
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·USD 198,000 – 335,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Competitive Health Coverage
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans for employees and eligible dependents, with OpenAI contributing significantly to premium costs.
Retirement and Financial Planning
401(k) retirement plan with employer matching contributions and access to financial planning resources to support long-term wealth building.
Equity Participation
Stock options or equity grants that allow employees to participate in OpenAI's growth and success, with competitive vesting schedules.
Flexible Time Off and Wellness
Generous paid time off, mental health days, and wellness programs including gym memberships, mindfulness resources, and access to counseling services.
Professional Development and Learning
Educational reimbursement, conference attendance budgets, internal training programs, and mentorship opportunities to continuously develop technical and professional skills.
Parental and Family Benefits
Paid parental leave, fertility support, and family planning resources to support employees at different life stages.
Commuter Benefits and Flexibility
Pre-tax commuter benefits, flexible work arrangements, and access to collaboration tools supporting remote and hybrid work models.
Inclusive Workplace Culture
Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion with employee resource groups, professional development opportunities for underrepresented groups, and inclusive hiring practices.
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Initial Screening and Resume Review
OpenAI's recruiting team reviews your application, resume, and portfolio of work (GitHub, technical blog, or past projects). They assess alignment with technical skills, developer advocacy background, and demonstrated passion for AI and developer experience.
- 02
Initial Recruiter Phone Screen
30-minute call with an OpenAI recruiter to discuss your background, career goals, interest in the Developer Experience Engineer role, and initial cultural fit assessment.
- 03
Technical Coding Interview
60-90 minute technical interview where you solve practical full-stack engineering problems, likely involving building features or components, API design, or working with LLM integrations. Expect a mix of system design questions and hands-on coding challenges.
- 04
Developer Experience and Content Creation Assessment
Detailed discussion or take-home assignment evaluating your ability to create technical content, design compelling demos, or explain complex concepts effectively. May involve reviewing your past content or proposing a new educational resource.
- 05
Product and Cross-Functional Collaboration Interview
Interview with product managers, senior engineers, or team leads to assess your understanding of developer needs, cross-functional collaboration skills, ability to synthesize feedback, and strategic thinking about developer platforms.
- 06
Team and Culture Fit Interview
Discussion with current team members to evaluate personality fit, communication style, alignment with OpenAI's values around AI safety and responsibility, and genuine passion for empowering developers.
- 07
Final Executive or Leadership Interview
Optional conversation with a team lead, manager, or executive to discuss long-term vision, career growth opportunities, and strategic priorities for the Developer Experience team at OpenAI.
Full posting
Original listing.
About the Team
The Developer Experience team at OpenAI has a singular focus: empowering developers globally. Our mission is to provide every developer and startup on the planet with the most delightful and seamless experience to integrate AI into their applications and products. We ensure developers have the tools, resources, and support they need to unlock AI’s full potential.
We create inspiring demos, developer tools, sample applications, and technical content that show developers how to build with Codex and frontier models like GPT-5.6, GPT-Live, and GPT-Image-2 to create powerful agents and AI-native applications.
We collaborate closely with product, engineering, research, and GTM teams to ensure the developer journey, from onboarding with Codex to first API call to production deployment, is seamless, effective, and delightful.
About the Role
As a Developer Experience Engineer, you will create compelling technical content, developer tools, and sample applications designed to inspire developers and enable them to succeed with Codex and OpenAI’s APIs and products for developers.
You will engage with developers and technical founders, demonstrating best practices and building innovative applications powered by frontier models, multimodal capabilities, and tools like Codex.
We’re looking for people who combine strong technical skills, creativity, and a passion for engaging with and empowering developers.
In this role, you will:
Develop demos and sample applications that showcase best practices for building with Codex, frontier models, multimodal capabilities, and agents.
Create high-quality technical content—including tutorials, blog posts, videos, and code samples—to educate and inspire the developer community about our models, APIs, and Codex.
Actively engage with and foster a vibrant local and global developer ecosystem around OpenAI’s platform and products.
Represent OpenAI at developer events and online, serving as a knowledgeable and approachable advocate for developers.
Gather and synthesize developer feedback to inform and improve our product roadmap.
Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and marketing teams to drive adoption and success across OpenAI’s developer products, including Codex and our APIs.
Contribute directly to improving and refining OpenAI’s developer products, interfaces, and surfaces.
Own challenges end-to-end, proactively closing gaps and developing new skills to solve complex problems.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Are passionate about crafting exceptional developer experiences and creating inspirational technical content and projects.
Bring a robust full-stack engineering background with demonstrated experience building innovative applications using AI and large language models (LLMs).
Have strong user empathy and care deeply about delivering experiences developers truly appreciate.
Have a proven track record of successfully creating engaging technical content, compelling demos, or innovative developer tooling that accelerates technology adoption.
Find joy in coding, continuously shipping high-quality, impactful software.
Excel in dynamic environments characterized by rapidly evolving priorities, ambiguity, and competing deadlines.
Are an exceptional collaborator who thrives working cross-functionally and enjoys partnering with diverse teams.
Maintain a genuine commitment to AI ethics and safety, strongly aligning with OpenAI's responsible AI development principles.
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.
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