PCBA Manufacturing Engineer

OpenAI

5d • $209,000 - $365,000

About The Position

OpenAI's Industrial Compute organization is building the world's most advanced AI infrastructure ecosystem. We work closely with hardware design teams, manufacturing partners, suppliers, and data center operations to deliver the compute platforms that power frontier AI. The Manufacturing Engineering team ensures our hardware can be built, tested, deployed, and supported at hyperscale. We bridge Hardware Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Contract Manufacturers, and Hardware Operations to continuously improve manufacturing performance throughout the product lifecycle. As our fleet grows globally, sustaining manufacturing engineering becomes increasingly important to maintain product quality, improve manufacturability, and rapidly resolve production issues.

We are seeking a PCBA Manufacturing Engineer (Sustaining) to support production and continuous improvement of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) used throughout Industrial Compute hardware platforms. This role focuses on sustaining engineering after product launch. You'll partner closely with Hardware Design, Quality, Manufacturing, Test Engineering, Supply Chain, and our contract manufacturers to resolve production issues, improve manufacturing yield, reduce failures, implement engineering changes, and ensure stable high-volume manufacturing. The ideal candidate has experience supporting complex server, networking, accelerator, storage, or high-performance electronics manufacturing environments.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years supporting high-volume PCBA manufacturing.
• Experience with SMT manufacturing, PCB fabrication, and electronic assembly processes.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing process control, yield improvement, and statistical analysis.
• Experience performing root cause analysis using methodologies such as 8D, 5 Why, Fishbone, or FMEA.
• Experience working with contract manufacturers and global supply chains.
• Ability to interpret schematics, BOMs, assembly drawings, and manufacturing documentation.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and project management skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with server, accelerator, networking, storage, or AI hardware platforms.
• Familiarity with ICT, Flying Probe, Boundary Scan, Functional Test, and System-Level Test.
• Experience supporting high-speed PCBAs involving GPUs, CPUs, memory, PCIe, Ethernet, or high-speed interconnects.
• Knowledge of IPC standards (IPC-A-610, IPC-6012, IPC-7711/7721).
• Experience with manufacturing execution systems (MES), PLM systems, and engineering change management.
• Enjoy solving complex manufacturing problems using data and structured root cause analysis.
• Like working directly with manufacturing partners and factory teams.
• Can bridge hardware design and manufacturing execution.
• Have strong troubleshooting skills across electronics, assembly processes, and production testing.
• Enjoy continuous improvement and process optimization.
• Are comfortable balancing technical depth with fast operational execution.

Responsibilities

• Own sustaining manufacturing engineering for PCBA production across multiple hardware platforms.
• Drive root cause investigations for manufacturing defects, field failures, and production escapes.
• Partner with Hardware Design Engineers to improve manufacturability (DFM/DFA/DFT).
• Support engineering change orders (ECOs) and manufacturing change implementation.
• Work directly with contract manufacturers to improve production yield, cycle time, and quality.
• Analyze manufacturing data to identify recurring process issues and improvement opportunities.
• Develop corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) for manufacturing and supplier quality issues.
• Support failure analysis activities including electrical, functional, and process investigations.
• Improve manufacturing documentation, work instructions, assembly processes, and test procedures.
• Collaborate with Test Engineering to improve production test coverage and manufacturing diagnostics.
• Support supplier qualification, process validation, and manufacturing readiness for design revisions.
• Travel to manufacturing partners as needed to support production and issue resolution.

Benefits

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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level