Research Engineer, Retrieval & Search, Applied Engineering

ML Engineer · Senior · Full Time

San FranciscoUSD 293k – 585k28mo ago
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Role

What you'll do.

OpenAI seeks a Research Engineer to advance retrieval and search technologies for ChatGPT and the OpenAI API, impacting millions of users worldwide. The role combines cutting-edge machine learning research with large-scale production deployment, requiring expertise in vector databases, search systems, and internet-scale infrastructure.

Responsibilities

  • Algorithm Development: Design and implement advanced retrieval and search algorithms in collaboration with OpenAI's research team
  • Production Deployment: Deploy search methodologies into production systems serving millions of ChatGPT and API users
  • Research Innovation: Explore novel research topics in retrieval and search that inform medium and long-term product strategy
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with researchers, engineers, product managers, and designers to bring new features to market
  • System Architecture: Build and maintain internet-scale search systems with high availability and performance
  • Vector Database Management: Work with vector databases and search indices for efficient similarity search and retrieval
  • Performance Optimization: Optimize search algorithms and infrastructure for web-scale performance requirements
  • Domain Expertise Application: Apply knowledge to document search, enterprise search, knowledge retrieval, and web-scale search problems

Qualifications

What we look for.

Technical

  • Machine Learning Systems

    Extensive experience building and maintaining production ML systems at scale

  • Vector Databases

    Hands-on experience with vector databases, search indices, and retrieval data stores

  • Internet-Scale Systems

    Experience building and iterating on internet-scale search systems

  • Search Algorithms

    Deep understanding of information retrieval, ranking algorithms, and semantic search

  • Distributed Systems

    Knowledge of distributed computing, microservices, and scalable architectures

Education

  • Advanced Degree

    MS/PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Information Retrieval, or related field preferred

  • Research Background

    Strong foundation in machine learning, natural language processing, or information systems

Experience

  • Production ML Experience

    5+ years experience with production machine learning systems and infrastructure

  • Search Systems

    3+ years working with large-scale search and retrieval systems

  • End-to-End Ownership

    Demonstrated ability to own problems from conception to production deployment

  • Fast-Paced Environment

    Experience working in dynamic environments with competing priorities and tight deadlines

Skills

Required

  • Python Programming

    Advanced proficiency in Python for ML development and production systems

  • Machine Learning

    Deep understanding of ML algorithms, model training, and deployment

  • Vector Search

    Experience with embedding models, similarity search, and vector databases

  • Search Algorithms

    Knowledge of information retrieval, ranking, and search optimization techniques

  • Distributed Systems

    Understanding of scalable architecture patterns and distributed computing

  • Production Systems

    Experience with monitoring, debugging, and maintaining large-scale systems

Preferred

  • Natural Language Processing

    Nice to have

    Experience with transformer models, BERT, and language understanding

  • Elasticsearch/OpenSearch

    Nice to have

    Hands-on experience with enterprise search platforms

  • Kubernetes

    Nice to have

    Container orchestration and cloud-native deployment experience

  • Research Publications

    Nice to have

    Published research in information retrieval, ML, or related fields

  • API Design

    Nice to have

    Experience designing and implementing RESTful APIs for ML services

  • A/B Testing

    Nice to have

    Statistical analysis and experimentation for search quality improvements

Tech stack

Languages

PythonC++Go

Frameworks

PyTorchTensorFlowTransformersLangChain

Databases

Vector DatabasesElasticsearchRedisPostgreSQL

Tools

KubernetesDockerApache KafkaMLflowRay

Other

FAISSApache LuceneBERT/Sentence-BERTAnnoyOpenSearch

Compensation

Pay and benefits.

Base·USD 293,000 – 585,000

Equity·Stock options

Benefits

  • Equity Compensation

    Substantial equity package in one of the world's leading AI companies

  • Health Insurance

    Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage

  • Unlimited PTO

    Flexible time off policy to support work-life balance

  • Professional Development

    Conference attendance, training, and continuous learning opportunities

  • Research Freedom

    Access to cutting-edge research resources and collaboration with world-class AI researchers

  • Remote Work Options

    Flexible work arrangements with hybrid and remote possibilities

  • Relocation Support

    Comprehensive relocation assistance for San Francisco area moves

Process

Interview steps.

  1. 01

    Initial Screen

    30-minute call with recruiter to discuss background and role fit

  2. 02

    Technical Phone Interview

    60-minute technical discussion covering ML concepts and system design

  3. 03

    Take-Home Assignment

    Search/retrieval coding challenge to demonstrate technical skills

  4. 04

    Technical Deep Dive

    90-minute session discussing the take-home solution and technical architecture

  5. 05

    Research Discussion

    45-minute conversation about research interests and OpenAI alignment

  6. 06

    System Design Interview

    60-minute session designing large-scale search infrastructure

  7. 07

    Cultural Fit Interview

    30-minute discussion about values, team collaboration, and OpenAI mission

  8. 08

    Final Interview

    45-minute conversation with senior leadership about vision and impact

Full posting

Original listing.

About the Team

We bring OpenAI's technology to the world through products like ChatGPT and the OpenAI API.

We seek to learn from deployment and distribute the benefits of AI, while ensuring that this powerful tool is used responsibly and safely. Safety is more important to us than unfettered growth.

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Research Engineer to work on retrieval & search problems across our API and ChatGPT. As the AI landscape has evolved over the last few years, retrieval & search have emerged as key use cases for our models, and we are investing in ensuring that we can offer these search-based product experiences for our users. You will be at the center of our retrieval & search efforts as a company, and the progress you drive here will reach millions of end users.

In this role, you will:

  • Work on retrieval & search algorithms and methodologies in close collaboration with our research team, including problems in such domains as document search, enterprise search, knowledge retrieval, and web-scale search.

  • Deploy these search methodologies into production in both the API and ChatGPT to be used by millions of end users.

  • Explore novel research topics in retrieval & search that may inform our product strategy in the medium and long term.

  • Partner with researchers, engineers, product managers, and designers to bring new features and research capabilities to the world

You might thrive in this role if you:

  • Have extensive prior experience building and maintaining production machine learning systems.

  • Have prior experience working with vector databases, search indices, or other data stores for search and retrieval use cases

  • Have prior experience building and iterating on internet-scale search systems

  • Own problems end-to-end, and are willing to pick up whatever knowledge you're missing to get the job done

  • Have the ability to move fast in an environment where things are sometimes loosely defined and may have competing priorities or deadlines

.

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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