Research Engineer / Research Scientist – Proactivity

OpenAI

Research Engineer/Scientist working on AI model personalization and agentic capabilities at OpenAI. Collaborating with research and product teams for a proactive assistant.

Posted 6/20/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $295,000 - $555,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own and pursue a research agenda to improve the proactivity and ability of our models to further user goals.
Build robust evaluations for tracking modeling improvements.
Design, implement, test, and debug code across our research stack.
Collaborate closely with the other research and product teams to influence the shape of technical solutions in the product

Requirements

What you’ll need

Have a deep understanding of machine learning and machine learning applications
Have a working knowledge of LLM post-training and evaluation approaches
Are passionate about, or have experience thinking about, personalization and enabling users to achieve their goals
Are comfortable diving into a large ML codebase to debug.
Thrive in a dynamic and technically complex environment.

Benefits

Comp & perks

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.

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Hard Skills & Tools

machine learningLLM post-trainingmodel evaluationdebuggingcode implementationcode testingcode design

Soft Skills

collaborationproactivityproblem-solvingadaptability