Firmware Engineer, ASIC Drivers

Firmware Engineer, ASIC Drivers

OpenAI’s Hardware organization develops silicon and system-level solutions designed for the unique demands of advanced AI workloads. The team is responsible for building the next generation of AI-native silicon while working closely with software and research partners to co‑design hardware tightly integrated with AI models. In addition to delivering production‑grade silicon for OpenAI’s supercomputing infrastructure, the team also creates custom design tools and methodologies that accelerate innovation and enable hardware optimized specifically for AI.

We are looking for an embedded engineer to help build firmware and drivers for OpenAI’s in‑house AI accelerator. This role involves designing and developing drivers for a large array of hardware components, writing high‑throughput and low‑latency firmware code, and investigating bring‑up and production issues.

• Design and implement drivers for a large array of hardware components.
• Design and implement low‑latency and high‑throughput embedded software to manage hardware resources.
• Work with adjacent software and hardware teams to implement requirements, debug issues, and shape future generations of the hardware.
• Collaborate with vendors to integrate their technologies within our systems.
• Bring up and debug firmware/driver on new platforms.
• Come up with processes and debug issues raised in the field.
• Set up monitoring, integration testing, and diagnostics tools.

• 5+ years of experience working in embedded software space.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and learn new technologies.
• Strong programming skills in C/C++ or Rust.
• Experience developing high‑throughput, low‑latency, and multi‑threaded code.
• Experience working with real‑time operating systems (RTOS).
• Experience developing hardware drivers and working with hardware engineers and/or vendors.
• Knowledge of common embedded protocols, e.g. UART, I2C, SPI, etc.
• Knowledge of microprocessor and common ARM architectures (e.g. AMBA) is a plus.
• Knowledge of PCIe, ethernet and other high‑bandwidth communication protocols is a plus.
• Experience with GPUs or other compute hardware is a plus.
• Experience deploying large compute clusters is a plus.

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 U.S.‑based candidates.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

Compensation Range: $360K – $530K

Seniority level:
Mid‑Senior level

Employment type:

Full‑time
Job function:
Engineering and Information Technology
Industry: Research Services