Prototyping Lab Technician

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples' lives.

About the Role

You will work at the cutting edge of OpenAI's robotics hardware, partnering with hardware and software teams to develop, build, test, and iterate on robotic systems.

Working closely with engineers, you will build prototypes, execute experiments, fabricate fixtures, troubleshoot hardware, and help drive rapid iteration on new robotic technologies. Your practical problem-solving and technical judgment will help move projects from concept to reality.

We are looking for versatile, hands-on generalists who enjoy solving problems across mechanical, electrical, fabrication, and experimental domains. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in high-velocity and early-stage hardware development environments, provide thoughtful feedback to engineering teams, and help improve both hardware and development processes. This role will help accelerate robotics development by enabling fast, high-quality iteration on new hardware concepts and systems.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and is in-person 5 days a week.

In this role, you will:

• Partner closely with engineers, researchers, and other members of the robotics team to support prototype development, experimentation, and hardware iteration.

• Build, modify, troubleshoot, and repair robotic systems and electromechanical assemblies spanning structural, electrical, sensing, and actuation subsystems.

• Design and fabricate fixtures, adapters, test equipment, and other prototype hardware that accelerate development efforts.

• Execute low-volume builds, engineering changes, and rework activities across robotic systems, including mechanical assemblies, wire harnesses, and custom electronics.

• Develop, execute, and support hardware experiments in partnership with engineering teams.

• Build and rework wire harnesses, custom electronics, and other prototype hardware used in robotic systems.

• Maintain lab equipment, tooling, inventory, and workspaces.

• Develop and refine processes that improve build quality, repeatability, documentation, and overall lab efficiency.

• Use software tools to configure hardware, collect data, document work, and interact with robotic systems.

• Identify technical risks, challenge assumptions when appropriate, and provide feedback that improves hardware reliability, manufacturability, and experimental quality.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have demonstrated experience working hands-on with complex electromechanical or robotic systems.

• Are highly effective at troubleshooting electrical systems and using common electronic test equipment.

• Are comfortable interpreting schematics, wiring diagrams, mechanical drawings, and technical documentation.

• Have experience building, modifying, and debugging wire harnesses, custom electronics, and assemblies.

• Quickly understand the constraints of a problem, identify risks, and propose practical solutions.

• Are an excellent technical communicator who collaborates effectively across disciplines.

• Take pride in producing high-quality work and maintaining strong attention to detail.

• Thrive in fast-paced environments with a wide variety of projects and responsibilities.

• Are comfortable learning unfamiliar tools, equipment, and technologies as projects evolve.

• Are comfortable working with the Linux command line.

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.

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