Technical Program Manager, Hardware Systems

OpenAI • San Francisco, CA

5d • $207,000 - $242,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

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 people’s lives. We are looking for a Member of Technical Program Staff to drive the development, prototyping, and integration of innovative hardware solutions used for data collection as well as robotic systems. You will work closely with mechanical, electrical, test, manufacturing, and supply chain teams to set functional requirements, coordinate hardware iterations, and move solutions from prototype through early production. This role is based in San Francisco, CA and requires in-person presence 4 days a week.

Requirements

• Understand material properties, compliance, bonding, packaging, tolerances, and integration constraints that affect tactile sensor performance in robotic systems.
• Have experience integrating PCBAs, interconnects, small form factor connectors, analog signals, and EMI-sensitive hardware into compact mechanical assemblies.
• Enjoy occasional hands-on work as well planning for building, testing, and debugging physical systems, including characterization and validation setups, calibration, durability, signal quality, and failure modes.
• Have led complex electromechanical hardware programs from evolving requirements through prototype builds and manufacturing.
• Understand the deliverables for data collection hardware, manage expectations and fast iterations, have had to make judgment calls without having to wait for a decision to emerge from large meetings to keep things moving.

Responsibilities

• Drive functional requirements for various end effector sub-systems, sensing technologies, integration of various peripherals into one system to drive data collection for model development, related milestones, and validation criteria.
• Collaborate with research teams, align system-level integration requirements, deliverables, calibration needs, configurations to test, etc.
• Work closely with the operations team in getting the data collection hardware rolled out, monitor the field failures as those pop-up and make sure the right stakeholders are involved in resolution.
• Coordinate the design and integration of tactile sensing materials, mechanical structures, PCBAs, interconnects, harnesses, and signal paths into robotic systems.
• Establish effective mechanisms for design reviews, drawing and documentation readiness, change control, design releases, decision tracking, characterization and validation readiness, and production readiness.
• Partner with manufacturing, test, and supply chain on prototype builds, assembly constraints, DFM/DFA, end-of-line test requirements, equipment lead times, handoffs, and the transition to manufacturable assemblies.
• Drive tradeoff decisions with the right stakeholders across material selection, mechanical performance, functionality, reliability, scaling, cost, quality, schedule, and lead time for both robot and data collection hardware by collaborating cross-functionally and quantifying impact to the program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed