Software Engineer, Youth Well-Being
Software Engineer · Senior · Full Time
Opens OpenAI's application page
Role
What you'll do.
OpenAI's Youth Well-Being team is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build foundational systems ensuring safe, age-appropriate AI experiences for families and teens across products like ChatGPT. This high-impact, 0→1 opportunity involves architecting identity infrastructure, age assurance pipelines, and guardian tools while ensuring regulatory compliance and ethical AI deployment at consumer scale.
Responsibilities
- Youth Experience Architecture: Architect and implement teen and guardian experiences across OpenAI products, including ChatGPT
- Age Assurance Systems: Build global age assurance systems that are privacy-preserving and tailored to regional compliance needs
- Identity Infrastructure: Design and evolve identity infrastructure to support scalable, secure, and resilient user journeys at consumer internet scale
- Safety Metrics Development: Help define safety and well-being metrics, and continuously improve user trust through technical interventions
- Regulatory Compliance: Implement systems compliant with COPPA, GDPR-K, UK OSA, KOSA and other youth protection regulations
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with engineers, data scientists, designers, user researchers, and policy experts
- Guardian Tools Development: Build guardian tools that support both proactive and reactive interventions for family safety
- System Architecture: Own complex, ambiguous problems end-to-end while adapting to fast-changing priorities
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Identity Systems Experience
Hands-on experience with identity platforms, auth/authz systems, or user verification at scale
Regulatory Compliance
Experience with systems involving regulatory complexity (COPPA, GDPR-K, UK OSA, KOSA)
Youth Safety Focus
Experience building products or infrastructure for users under 18, or strong interest in digital safety and youth well-being
Scalable Systems
Proven ability to build and maintain systems at consumer internet scale
Full-Stack Development
Proficiency in both frontend and backend technologies for complete product development
Education
Bachelor's Degree
Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field preferred
Advanced Degree
Master's degree in Computer Science or related field is a plus but not required
Experience
Senior-Level Experience
5+ years of software engineering experience with focus on user-facing products
Identity Platform Experience
3+ years working with authentication, authorization, and identity verification systems
Compliance Systems
2+ years experience with regulatory compliance in product development
Cross-functional Leadership
Demonstrated ability to work effectively across policy, research, legal, and product functions
Skills
Required
Python
Strong proficiency in Python for backend development and AI system integration
Identity & Authentication
Deep understanding of OAuth, OpenID Connect, and modern authentication protocols
System Design
Ability to architect scalable, secure systems for consumer-scale applications
Regulatory Knowledge
Understanding of youth protection regulations like COPPA, GDPR-K, and UK Online Safety Act
Database Design
Experience with both SQL and NoSQL databases for user data and compliance systems
API Development
Proficiency in designing and implementing RESTful APIs and GraphQL endpoints
Security Best Practices
Strong understanding of security principles, especially for youth-facing applications
Preferred
TypeScript/JavaScript
Nice to haveFrontend development experience with React, Next.js, or similar modern frameworks
Cloud Platforms
Nice to haveExperience with AWS, GCP, or Azure for scalable cloud infrastructure
DevOps
Nice to haveKnowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines for reliable deployments
Educational Technology
Nice to haveBackground in edtech or youth-focused product development
Machine Learning
Nice to haveUnderstanding of ML concepts and AI safety considerations
Legal Tech
Nice to haveExperience navigating legal constraints in product development
User Research
Nice to haveFamiliarity with user research methodologies for sensitive user groups
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·USD 230,000 – 385,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Equity Package
Comprehensive equity compensation as part of total compensation
Health Insurance
Premium medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and families
Unlimited PTO
Flexible time off policy to support work-life balance
Parental Leave
Generous paid parental leave for new parents
Learning & Development
Professional development budget and opportunities for continuous learning
Mental Health Support
Comprehensive mental health resources and counseling services
Remote Work Support
Home office setup stipend and flexible work arrangements
AI Research Access
Early access to cutting-edge AI models and research for personal and professional growth
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Application Review
Initial screening of resume and portfolio focusing on relevant experience with identity systems and youth safety
- 02
Recruiter Call
30-minute phone screen discussing background, motivation, and basic technical experience
- 03
Technical Screen
60-minute coding interview focusing on system design and API development skills
- 04
System Design Interview
90-minute deep dive into designing scalable identity and age verification systems
- 05
Cross-functional Interview
60-minute discussion with policy and product team members about regulatory compliance and ethical considerations
- 06
Values & Culture Fit
45-minute interview assessing alignment with OpenAI's mission and approach to AI safety
- 07
Final Interview
60-minute conversation with senior leadership about technical vision and team collaboration
- 08
Reference Checks
Professional references verification and background check completion
Full posting
Original listing.
About the Team
The Youth Well-Being product team is part of the Integrity pillar at OpenAI, responsible for ensuring that our state-of-the-art AI technologies are deployed in safe, age-appropriate, and beneficial ways—especially for youth and families.
We work across OpenAI’s entire product surface area, from ChatGPT to future-facing tools, to architect safety and trust into the foundation of our systems. Our mission: empower families while meeting the highest standards of regulatory compliance and ethical responsibility.
This work is core to OpenAI’s mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity. Safety, especially for the most vulnerable users, is more important to us than unfettered growth.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help architect and build the foundational systems that power family- and youth-facing experiences at scale. You’ll help define how teens and guardians engage with OpenAI products—ensuring those experiences are safe, compliant, and empowering.
You’ll operate across a broad technical surface: building identity primitives, age assurance pipelines, and guardian tools that support both proactive and reactive interventions. You’ll collaborate closely with a cross-functional team of engineers, data scientists, designers, user researchers, and policy experts.
This is a high-impact, 0→1 opportunity to set the standard for how families interact with generative AI.
In this role, you will:
Architect and implement teen and guardian experiences across OpenAI products, including ChatGPT.
Build global age assurance systems that are privacy-preserving and tailored to regional compliance needs.
Design and evolve our identity infrastructure to support scalable, secure, and resilient user journeys at consumer internet scale.
Help define safety and well-being metrics, and continuously improve user trust through technical interventions.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Have built products or infrastructure for users under 18, or have a strong interest in digital safety, youth well-being, or educational technology.
Have hands-on experience with identity platforms, auth/authz systems, or user verification at scale.
Have worked on systems with regulatory complexity (e.g., COPPA, GDPR-K, UK OSA, KOSA) or experience navigating legal constraints in product development.
Are comfortable owning complex, ambiguous problems end-to-end, learning quickly, and adapting to fast-changing priorities.
Can thrive in a cross-functional team, with strong collaboration across policy, research, legal, and product functions.Care deeply about building systems that are not just performant, but also inclusive, thoughtful, and ethical.
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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