Electrical Engineer, End-Effectors

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and advancing toward AGI-level intelligence in dynamic real-world environments. Working across the full model and systems 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 physical constraints of real-world systems to improve peoples lives.

About the Role

As an Electrical Engineer on the Robotics team you will help enable the next generation of embodied AI. You will be the first engineer focused exclusively on end-effector electrical systems with strong support from mechanical firmware and robotics systems teams. You will design and prototype circuits to integrate novel sensors for tactile force and position sensing. You will contribute to - and over time own - the electrical architecture for robotic end-effectors.

By working closely across disciplines and with external suppliers you will ensure that every part of the system - from schematic capture to layout and production - meets the highest standards of reliability performance and scalability. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape how advanced interaction and sensing technologies power adaptive intelligent machines in the real world.

This role is based in San Francisco CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have 6 years of experience designing electrical systems for compact products such as consumer electronics wearables medical devices or robotics platforms.

• Have experience keeping a high quality bar in a fast-moving environment that aims to produce reliable and safe products.

• Have hands-on experience with thermal management and efficient power electronics in extremely space-constrained environments.

• Have integrated sensing technologies such as magnetic absolute encoders force sensors or tactile sensors into compact electro-mechanical systems.

• Have experience designing prototyping and iterating on novel sensing technologies and applications.

• Are comfortable routing and validating high-speed digital interfaces adjacent to power electronics (e.g. Ethernet CAN RS-485).

• Have practical experience addressing EMI/ESD challenges in tightly coupled motor and sensor systems.

• Have collaborated closely with cross-functional partners to define requirements and translate them into practical rapidly iterated prototype designs.

• Have managed the full lifecycle of a design from schematic capture and PCB layout through low-volume production test and bring-up.

• Are able to co-design with mechanical engineers under active development iterating rapidly under evolving constraints and ambiguity.

• Hold a Bachelors or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field or possess equivalent practical experience.

Additional preferred qualifications:

• A strong passion for electro-mechanical product design creative problem-solving and building novel physical systems.

• Practical experience designing rigid-flex PCBs connectors and wire harness strategies for compact continuously moving assemblies.

• Experience supporting the development of factory test and calibration tooling for electrical and sensor systems.

• Experience designing systems intended for high-volume production troubleshooting issues on assembly lines and partnering closely with contract manufacturing teams throughout the design lifecycle.

• Familiarity with embedded bring-up and test firmware development in C C or Rust.

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 OpenAIs 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 addition job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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