Host Systems Software Engineer

The role

You will define and build the host software stack for custom next-generation AI systems. This involves working on performance-critical software including Linux kernel drivers, high-throughput I/O paths, and system-scale networking and RDMA.

What you will do

• Design, implement, and debug host-side systems software for AI infrastructure.
• Build and optimize software paths for high-throughput, low-latency communication.
• Develop software around PCIe, DMA, NICs, accelerators, memory movement, and device interaction.
• Bring up new hardware platforms and diagnose complex issues across kernel, firmware, networking, and hardware boundaries.
• Build tooling for integration, testing, diagnostics, observability, qualification, and performance characterization.
• Collaborate with hardware, networking, and platform teams to define interfaces and integrate new capabilities.
• Work with external vendors to integrate technologies and drive issues to resolution.
• Contribute across the systems software stack as the platform and team evolve.
• Help shape the technical direction and engineering practices for a growing systems software stack.

Required qualifications

• Experience building low-level or performance-critical systems software.
• Strong programming skills in C or C++.
• Proficiency using Python and Linux tooling for automation and debugging.
• Strong Linux systems fundamentals and the ability to debug across hardware and software boundaries.
• Hands-on experience in at least one relevant area, such as Linux kernel drivers, kernel networking, RDMA, PCIe, DMA, NIC software, accelerator software, or high-performance I/O.
• Experience owning complex software projects from design through implementation, bring-up, and validation.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, work across subsystem boundaries, and build systems from scratch.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience developing Linux kernel drivers or other OS-level performance-critical components.
• Familiarity with RDMA or RoCE, ibverbs, kernel networking, or congestion-control concepts such as ECN and DCQCN.
• Experience with PCIe, DMA, peer-to-peer communication, SR-IOV, IOMMU, dma-buf, or related accelerator and I/O subsystems.
• Experience bringing up accelerators, NICs, SoCs, or custom hardware platforms.
• Experience profiling and optimizing high-throughput, low-latency systems.
• Familiarity with Rust or experience using Rust for systems programming.

Before you apply

• Candidates for this role may need to meet certain legal status requirements to comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations.
• Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law.

About the company

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. The Hardware organization develops AI-native silicon and system-level solutions for advanced AI workloads.