What it is, where the jobs are, what it hires for and pays, and the open jobs today.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 09/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence (AI) public benefit corporation (PBC) headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops "frontier" generative AI models, particularly its generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) series of large language models.
| Fact ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | San Francisco |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Employees (Wikidata) | 4,500 (2026) |
| Industry | artificial intelligence |
| Website | openai.com |
OpenAI is hiring in 4 states and 4 cities. These are the places with the most openings, which tell you where its work really happens.
| City ⇅ | State ⇅ | Open jobs ⇅ | Share ⇅ | Note ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | California | 547 | 86% | headquarters area |
| New York | New York | 30 | 5% | |
| Washington | District of Columbia | 21 | 3% | |
| Seattle | Washington | 18 | 3% |
The mix of roles shows what OpenAI needs right now. Pay is the median of the ranges the employer itself published in its ads (only roles with at least two published ranges).
| Role family ⇅ | Open jobs ⇅ | Typical posted range (median low – median high, yearly) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Software engineer / Developer | 123 | $266,000 – $445,000 |
| Data scientist / Machine learning | 96 | $265,000 – $385,000 |
| DevOps / Cloud / SRE | 52 | $257,000 – $385,000 |
| Other roles | 36 | $252,000 – $318,000 |
| Engineer (other) | 36 | $266,000 – $385,000 |
| Security engineer / Analyst | 35 | $266,000 – $370,000 |
| Project / Program manager | 27 | $226,000 – $310,000 |
| Marketing | 25 | $239,000 – $305,000 |
| Operations / Supply chain / Logistics | 24 | $234,000 – $295,000 |
| Compliance / Risk | 21 | $239,000 – $328,000 |
| Lawyer / Attorney | 16 | $330,000 – $366,000 |
| Scientist / Researcher / Lab | 16 | $380,000 – $500,000 |
| Title ⇅ | Open jobs ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 102 |
| Technical Program Manager | 18 |
| Researcher | 15 |
| Forward Deployed Engineer | 14 |
| Account Director | 13 |
| Applied AI Engineer | 12 |
| Engineering Manager | 12 |
| Data Scientist | 11 |
| Full Stack Software Engineer | 11 |
| Product Manager | 9 |
| Applied AI Architect | 9 |
| Research Program Manager | 8 |
| Manager | 8 |
| Product Designer | 7 |
| Senior Counsel | 5 |
637 of 638 listings (100%) publish a pay range. Across them the median range is $252,000 – $352,000 a year (the employer's own figures, converted to yearly; not a BLS statistic).
Most listings do not state a seniority level.
420 of 638 listings (66%) mention a remote or flexible location.
We counted how often OpenAI's own 638 ads (those with a full description) state each requirement. This shows the filters the ads apply before anyone reads a resume. We have no data on why candidates are rejected after applying, and we do not guess.
Years of experience. 322 of 638 ads (50%) state a number of years. The median is 8 years; 92% ask for 5 or more and 27% for 10 or more.
| Requirement ⇅ | Ads that state it ⇅ | Share of ads ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| 'or equivalent experience' accepted | 64 | 10% |
| Bachelor's degree | 38 | 6% |
| PhD or doctorate | 14 | 2% |
| Master's degree | 11 | 2% |
| Associate degree | 1 | 0% |
| Requirement ⇅ | Ads that state it ⇅ | Share of ads ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Background check or drug test | 638 | 100% |
| U.S. person / export-control (ITAR, EAR) rules | 33 | 5% |
| Security clearance mentioned | 21 | 3% |
| U.S. citizenship mentioned | 3 | 0% |
| Requirement ⇅ | Ads that state it ⇅ | Share of ads ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| On-site or in-person work | 264 | 41% |
| Relocation mentioned | 251 | 39% |
| Travel mentioned | 81 | 13% |
| Nights, weekends, holidays or on-call | 32 | 5% |
| Requirement ⇅ | Ads that state it ⇅ | Share of ads ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| python | 157 | 25% |
| machine learning | 57 | 9% |
| c++ | 47 | 7% |
| sql | 45 | 7% |
| kubernetes | 40 | 6% |
| javascript | 36 | 6% |
| typescript | 30 | 5% |
| azure | 29 | 5% |
| linux | 29 | 5% |
| aws | 24 | 4% |
| excel | 22 | 3% |
| react | 15 | 2% |
| gcp | 11 | 2% |
| java | 11 | 2% |
| cad | 11 | 2% |
What the hiring process, culture, schedules and benefits are like is not in our sources, so we do not describe it. Read the job ads and the employer's own site.
Compare OpenAI side by side with another employer:
vs SpaceX vs JPMorgan Chase vs Apple vs TikTok vs Bank of America vs Deloitte vs Leidos vs Anthropic
638 open jobs today, 66 posted in the last 7 days (updated several times a day).
Mostly in San Francisco, CA (547), New York, NY (30), Washington, DC (21).