Platform Engineering Manager – Forward Deployed Engineering
OpenAI
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Hybrid
Location: San Francisco • California • New York • United States
Visit company websiteExplore more
Salary
💰 $302,000 - $335,000 per year
About the role
- Guide a focused portfolio of platform bets: Steer direction for a small number of high-signal problems, with clear hypotheses, success criteria, sequencing, and measurable adoption outcomes.
- Build and validate with customers: Ensure the team ships working software with design partners, instruments usage and outcomes, and iterates quickly based on real-world adoption and constraints.
- Co-develop with long-term owners: Partner early with B2B Platform (and other durable owners) to align on architecture, interfaces, security/governance requirements, and handoff criteria, staying engaged through validation and the path to scale.
- Maintain a high engineering bar: Set and enforce standards for design, code quality, testing, observability, and operational readiness appropriate for enterprise use.
- Grow and develop the team: Coach and develop engineers through direct feedback, clear expectations, and durable team mechanisms that reinforce execution and ownership.
- Operate with high judgment and influence: Make clear tradeoffs under ambiguity, communicate decisions crisply across stakeholders, and drive outcomes through partnership rather than formal authority.
Requirements
- 8+ years of engineering experience, including 2+ years managing high-performance engineers
- Deeply customer-obsessed and able to partner credibly with senior stakeholders while keeping a high bar for delivery and technical rigor
- Naturally act as a shepherd: elevate and refine others’ ideas, sharpen hypotheses, and make disciplined “scale vs pause” calls with clear reasoning
- Excel at cross-functional execution, forming tight partnerships with engineering, product, research, and GTM teams to deliver outcomes without needing formal authority
- Can build inclusive team mechanics – rotations, mentorship, and scoped ownership – that increase collaboration across teams rather than creating a gated platform group.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family, with employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts
- Pre-tax accounts for Health FSA, Dependent Care FSA, and commuter expenses (parking and transit)
- 401(k) retirement plan with employer match
- Paid parental leave (up to 24 weeks for birth parents and 20 weeks for non-birthing parents), plus paid medical and caregiver leave (up to 8 weeks)
- Paid time off: flexible PTO for exempt employees and up to 15 days annually for non-exempt employees
- 13+ paid company holidays, and multiple paid coordinated company office closures throughout the year for focus and recharge, plus paid sick or safe time (1 hour per 30 hours worked, or more, as required by applicable state or local law)
- Mental health and wellness support
- Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
- Annual learning and development stipend to fuel your professional growth
- Daily meals in our offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
- Relocation support for eligible employees
- Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends, may also be provided.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
engineeringsoftware developmentdesign standardscode qualitytestingobservabilityoperational readinessarchitecturesecurity requirementsB2B platform
Soft Skills
customer obsessionstakeholder communicationteam coachingcross-functional executionpartnership buildinginfluence without authorityidea refinementdecision makingcollaborationmentorship