Research Engineer, Privacy

About The Team

The Privacy Engineering Team at OpenAI is committed to integrating privacy as a foundational element in OpenAI's mission of advancing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Our focus is on all OpenAI products and systems handling user data, striving to uphold the highest standards of data privacy and security. We build essential production services, develop novel privacy-preserving techniques, and equip cross-functional engineering and research partners with the necessary tools to ensure responsible data use. Our approach to prioritizing responsible data use is integral to OpenAI's mission of safely introducing AGI that offers widespread benefits.

About The Role

As a part of the Privacy Engineering Team, you will work on the frontlines of safeguarding user data while ensuring the usability and efficiency of our AI systems. You will help us understand and implement the latest research in privacy-enhancing technologies such as differential privacy, federated learning, and data memorization. Moreover, you will focus on investigating the interaction between privacy and machine learning, developing innovative techniques to improve data anonymization, and preventing model inversion and membership inference attacks. This position is located in San Francisco. Relocation assistance is available.

Responsibilities

• Design and prototype privacy-preserving machine-learning algorithms (e.g., differential privacy, secure aggregation, federated learning) that can be deployed at OpenAI scale.
• Measure and strengthen model robustness against privacy attacks such as membership inference, model inversion, and data memorization leaks—balancing utility with provable guarantees.
• Develop internal libraries, evaluation suites, and documentation that make cutting-edge privacy techniques accessible to engineering and research teams.
• Lead deep-dive investigations into the privacy–performance trade-offs of large models, publishing insights that inform model-training and product-safety decisions.
• Define and codify privacy standards, threat models, and audit procedures that guide the entire ML lifecycle—from dataset curation to post-deployment monitoring.
• Collaborate across Security, Policy, Product, and Legal to translate evolving regulatory requirements into practical technical safeguards and tooling.

Requirements

• Hands-on research or production experience with PETs.
• Fluent in modern deep-learning stacks (PyTorch/JAX) and comfortable turning cutting-edge papers into reliable, well-tested code.
• Enjoy stress-testing models—probing them for private data leakage—and can explain complex attack vectors to non-experts with clarity.
• Have a track record of publishing (or implementing) novel privacy or security work and relish bridging the gap between academia and real-world systems.
• Thrive in fast-moving, cross-disciplinary environments where you alternate between open-ended research and shipping production features under tight deadlines.
• Communicate crisply, document rigorously, and care deeply about building AI systems that respect user privacy while pushing the frontiers of capability.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.
• Experience with differential privacy, federated learning, and data memorization.
• Strong understanding of machine learning, security, and privacy.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a dynamic team environment.

Skills

• Deep understanding of machine learning and its applications.
• Experience with differential privacy, federated learning, and data memorization.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation range of $380K - $445K.
• Flexible working hours.
• Comprehensive health and wellness programs.
• Professional development opportunities.
• Work-life balance initiatives.

Pay

Compensation range: $380K - $445K.

Schedule

Full-time, remote work option available.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation range of $380K - $445K.
• Flexible working hours.
• Comprehensive health and wellness programs.
• Professional development opportunities.
• Work-life balance initiatives.

Contact Information

To apply, please visit our careers page at careers.openai.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants of all backgrounds. 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 characteristics.