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Senior Staff Software Engineer, Identity Infrastructure Engineering

OpenAI· IT
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Hybrid (San Francisco)$347k - $510kFull-timePosted 5mo ago

About the role

Senior Staff Software Engineer to design, build, and operate identity infrastructure that supports OpenAI’s research, engineering, and internal platforms with a focus on authentication, authorization, access governance, and secure-by-default design across cloud environments.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the architecture, development, and operation of identity infrastructure that spans cloud platforms, internal systems, and critical engineering services.
  • Design and evolve systems for authentication, authorization, access governance, auditability, and policy enforcement with a strong focus on reliability, scalability, and secure-by-default design.
  • Build foundational infrastructure and platform capabilities that are broadly used across engineering, research, and security teams.
  • Improve the reliability, observability, performance, and operational maturity of identity infrastructure that supports mission-critical systems and workflows.
  • Lead ambiguous, high-impact technical initiatives across security, infrastructure, and engineering teams, driving alignment and execution across multiple stakeholders.
  • Partner closely with engineers, researchers, and security teams to build scalable access patterns and infrastructure that enable rapid development while maintaining strong security boundaries and operational rigor.
  • Raise the engineering bar through strong technical judgment, thoughtful system design, operational excellence, and long-term ownership of critical infrastructure.

Qualifications

  • 10+ years building and operating large-scale infrastructure, platform, or backend systems.
  • Deep experience with cloud infrastructure, identity systems, distributed systems, and infrastructure-as-code.
  • Experience leading complex technical initiatives across teams and driving architecture in ambiguous environments.
  • Experience building security-critical systems involving authentication, authorization, access governance, privileged access, or policy enforcement.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals with experience in Go, Rust, Python, or similar languages.
  • Ability to debug across code, cloud infrastructure, identity systems, networking, and operations.
  • High bar for reliability, security, auditability, and operational rigor in mission-critical systems.

Skills

Required:Cloud infrastructureIdentity systemsDistributed systemsInfrastructure-as-codeGo / Rust / PythonDebugging and incident response
Nice to have:Security and compliance

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
  • Mental health and wellness support
  • Employer-paid basic life and disability coverage
  • Annual learning and development stipend
  • Daily meals in offices, and meal delivery credits as eligible
  • Relocation support for eligible employees
  • Additional taxable fringe benefits, such as charitable donation matching and wellness stipends
Last updated Sep 10, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About OpenAI

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Company profileWebsite

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