OpenAI

System Performance Engineer, Consumer Devices

OpenAI4 days ago
Location

San Francisco

Type

Full Time

Salary

USD 293,000 – 325,000

Level

Senior

Role

Senior Performance Engineer

Posted

Jun 15, 2026

Full TimeSenior

The role

Summary

OpenAI seeks a System Performance Engineer to profile, benchmark, and optimize performance across embedded hardware products for consumer devices powered by artificial intelligence. This role combines deep embedded systems expertise with performance engineering rigor, requiring proficiency in C/C++, Python, or Rust alongside hands-on debugging experience under tight latency, power, and memory constraints. You will establish performance standards, build diagnostic tooling, and drive optimizations across operating systems, applications, graphics, and platform teams from lab characterization through real-world product lifecycle management.

What you'll do

Performance Benchmarking and Methodology Development: Develop comprehensive system performance benchmarks, methodologies, and policies to evaluate end-to-end product behavior across embedded hardware platforms. Establish repeatable measurement frameworks that define launch readiness criteria and align with business objectives for consumer AI-powered devices.
System Performance Profiling and Analysis: Profile and analyze performance across key product use cases and workloads using custom profiling tools and industry-standard instrumentation frameworks such as Perfetto, perf, ftrace, and Instruments. Generate actionable insights from performance data to identify optimization opportunities.
Cross-functional Performance Optimization: Partner closely with embedded software, systems, camera and vision, graphics, applications, and hardware engineering teams to identify bottlenecks throughout the software stack. Drive performance optimizations across operating systems, media frameworks, graphics subsystems, and platform components.
Key Performance Indicator Definition and Tracking: Define high-level product KPIs including system responsiveness, cold boot performance, memory utilization, and thermal behavior. Establish measurement frameworks to quantify product performance, track regressions, and monitor compliance with performance targets throughout the product lifecycle.
Metric Collection and Performance Monitoring: Measure, report, and track critical performance metrics including system latency, memory utilization, power consumption, long-term stability, and behavior under constrained conditions such as thermal limits and low battery states. Develop instrumentation and telemetry systems to gather real-world performance data.
Field Performance Regression Investigation: Investigate field performance regressions post-launch using data-driven analysis techniques. Collaborate with engineering teams to diagnose root causes and drive issues to resolution, utilizing debugging tools such as GDB, LLDB, and platform-specific diagnostics.

What we look for

Technical

Embedded and High-Performance Systems DevelopmentDeep experience shipping embedded or high-performance systems on Linux, Android, or iOS devices, with demonstrated expertise in real-time systems operating under tight latency, power, and memory constraints. Proven ability to optimize systems for consumer hardware platforms.
Operating Systems FundamentalsExceptional understanding of OS concepts including process management, inter-process communication (IPC), device drivers, interrupt handling, power management, memory management, filesystems, networking stacks, and kernel-level optimization techniques.
Programming Language ProficiencyStrong proficiency in C/C++, Python, or Rust for systems-level programming, performance instrumentation, and diagnostic tool development. Ability to write efficient code and leverage language-specific profiling and debugging capabilities.
Performance Profiling and Debugging ToolsExpertise with advanced profiling and debugging tools including Perfetto, GDB, LLDB, perf, ftrace, and Apple Instruments. Proficiency in using these tools to trace execution flow, identify performance bottlenecks, and validate optimization effectiveness.
Instrumentation and Analytics Framework DevelopmentProven experience building custom instrumentation, analytics, and performance tuning frameworks. Ability to design telemetry systems that capture relevant performance metrics and integrate with continuous monitoring infrastructure.

Education

Computer Science or Engineering FoundationBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent industry experience. Strong theoretical foundation in systems architecture and performance analysis principles.

Experience

Embedded Systems Shipping ExperienceMinimum 5-7 years of professional experience shipping production embedded or mobile systems, with multiple shipped consumer products or infrastructure components. Track record of delivering performance improvements in resource-constrained environments.
Performance Engineering and OptimizationExtensive hands-on experience debugging complex performance issues under tight latency and power budgets. Demonstrated ability to identify bottlenecks, implement optimizations, and validate improvements through rigorous measurement.
Cross-functional CollaborationHistory of effectively collaborating with diverse engineering teams including hardware, software, graphics, camera, and systems engineers. Experience translating performance requirements into actionable engineering tasks and driving adoption of performance best practices.

Skills

Required skills

C/C++ Systems ProgrammingProduction-grade proficiency in C and C++ for low-level systems code, performance-critical applications, and custom tooling development.
Python for Tools and AutomationStrong Python skills for developing performance testing scripts, data analysis tools, and automation frameworks that integrate with build and CI/CD pipelines.
Embedded Linux/Android/iOS DevelopmentDeep familiarity with embedded Linux kernel configuration, Android system architecture, or iOS platform internals. Understanding of boot processes, firmware loading, and hardware abstraction layers.
Performance Analysis and ProfilingExpertise in using CPU profiling, memory profiling, trace analysis, and real-time performance monitoring tools. Ability to interpret performance data and identify optimization opportunities.
System Architecture and DesignStrong understanding of system-level architecture including CPU caches, memory hierarchies, thermal management, power distribution, and interrupt handling.

Nice to have

Rust for Systems ProgrammingExperience with Rust for systems-level development, particularly in memory-safe implementations of performance-critical code or embedded applications.
Statistics and ExperimentationFamiliarity with statistical methods, A/B testing, controlled experimentation, and data science concepts for validating performance improvements and ensuring reproducibility.
Graphics and Media Framework OptimizationExperience optimizing graphics pipelines, media encoding/decoding, camera processing, or display subsystems. Understanding of GPU architecture and graphics API integration.
Hardware Product DevelopmentPrior experience bringing hardware products to market, including participation in design reviews, prototype validation, and managing performance across hardware-software integration challenges.
Consumer Device OptimizationBackground optimizing consumer electronics including smartphones, tablets, wearables, or IoT devices for power efficiency, thermal performance, and user-perceived responsiveness.
Real-time Systems and RTOSExperience with real-time operating systems, deterministic scheduling, priority-based task management, and latency-critical applications.
Data Analysis and VisualizationProficiency with data visualization tools, statistical analysis packages, and time-series analysis for communicating performance insights to stakeholders.

Compensation & benefits

Salary

USD 293,000 – 325,000 (annual)

Stock options

Available

Benefits

Equity Compensation

Competitive stock options granting ownership stake in OpenAI and alignment with company success. Typical equity packages for senior technical roles reflect company valuation and role impact.

Comprehensive Health Insurance

Medical, dental, and vision coverage options with competitive premiums. OpenAI offers multiple plan tiers to accommodate diverse healthcare needs and preferences.

401(k) Retirement Planning

401(k) retirement savings plan with company matching contributions, enabling long-term financial security and tax-advantaged retirement planning.

Professional Development

Access to technical conferences, training resources, and educational opportunities to maintain cutting-edge skills and stay current with emerging technologies in AI and systems engineering.

Flexible Time Off

Unlimited or generous paid time off policy enabling work-life balance and recovery periods between high-intensity project phases.

Relocation Assistance

Comprehensive relocation support for new hires relocating to San Francisco Bay Area, including moving expenses and settlement assistance.

Hybrid Work Arrangement

Flexible hybrid work model with four days in-office and one day remote, balancing collaborative team interaction with individual focus time for deep technical work.

Mental Health and Wellness

Employee assistance programs, mental health counseling, gym membership subsidies, and wellness initiatives supporting overall health and well-being.

Interview process

  1. 1
    Initial Screening and Recruiter Conversation — Phone or video call with OpenAI recruiter to discuss your background, embedded systems experience, and familiarity with performance engineering challenges. This conversation confirms mutual fit and clarifies role expectations.
  2. 2
    Technical Systems Design Interview — Deep-dive conversation with senior performance engineer covering system architecture fundamentals, embedded platform knowledge, and approach to performance optimization problems. Expect discussions about trade-offs between latency, power, and memory.
  3. 3
    Performance Debugging Exercise — Technical assessment involving a simulated performance optimization scenario. You may analyze synthetic performance traces, propose optimization strategies, or discuss profiling tool usage and data interpretation techniques.
  4. 4
    Profiling Tools and Instrumentation Assessment — Evaluation of hands-on expertise with Perfetto, perf, ftrace, GDB, LLDB, or similar tools. Discussion of past experiences using these tools to solve real-world performance problems in production systems.
  5. 5
    Cross-functional Collaboration Interview — Conversation with representatives from hardware, software, graphics, or systems teams to evaluate ability to communicate across disciplines, influence without authority, and drive collaborative performance optimization efforts.
  6. 6
    Product and Impact Discussion — Discussion with hiring manager about your vision for establishing performance standards in consumer AI devices, understanding of product lifecycle performance management, and motivation to impact user experience at scale.
  7. 7
    Final Executive Conversation — Optional final conversation with senior leadership or technical fellow to discuss your technical vision, potential long-term impact at OpenAI, and alignment with company mission regarding AI and consumer technology.
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OpenAI

OpenAI

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OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research organization developing advanced AI models like GPT. Focused on ensuring AI benefits humanity, it creates tools for natural language processing and generative AI applications.

San Francisco, California, United StatesFounded 2015openai.com

Tech Stack

Languages
C/C++PythonRustShell Scripting (Bash)
Frameworks
Linux KernelAndroid System StackiOS/macOS Frameworks
Databases
Time-series Databases
Tools
PerfettoperfftraceGDB (GNU Debugger)LLDBInstrumentsstrace/ltraceValgrindGit
Other
Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)Thermal Modeling and Power AnalysisBenchmarking MethodologiesReal-time Scheduling

Interview Guides

5 guides available for OpenAI

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