Hardware Tooling Engineer

OpenAI is seeking a Hardware Tooling Engineer with exceptional technical depth and leadership capability to drive tooling strategy, design, and implementation across our hardware programs. In this role, you will be responsible for enabling the transition from product concepts to scalable, reliable manufacturing through best-in-class tooling solutions.

This is a high-impact position for an engineer who combines deep mechanical understanding with strong manufacturing intuition, and who thrives in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment. You will work at the intersection of design, engineering, and production, owning critical tooling decisions and outcomes from prototyping through to mass production.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end development and execution of tooling strategies across OAI hardware programs.

• Collaborate closely with product design, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to assess tooling needs early in the product lifecycle.

• Drive tooling concept reviews, DFM evaluations, and design optimization for cost, reliability, and manufacturability.

• Lead technical engagement with external tooling partners, ensuring alignment on quality, delivery, and performance expectations.

• Manage tooling schedules and deliverables to meet aggressive product timelines.

• Oversee tooling validation processes, including functional testing, durability evaluation, and refinement based on production feedback.

• Contribute to internal design and manufacturing standards, and elevate the organization’s tooling maturity and capabilities.

• Mentor junior engineers and collaborate cross-functionally to de-risk complex hardware programs.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.

• 8+ years of hands-on experience in hardware tooling development across industries such as robotics, consumer electronics, automotive, or industrial equipment.

• Proven track record in delivering robust tooling solutions for high-complexity mechanical systems.

• Broad knowledge of tooling methods including machining, forming, casting, molding, and rapid prototyping.

• Strong 3D CAD and drawing interpretation skills, with mastery of GD&T principles.

• Experience working closely with global manufacturing partners and contract manufacturers.

• Deep understanding of design-for-manufacturing principles and tradeoffs in hardware production.

• Demonstrated technical leadership in cross-functional environments and the ability to drive decisions under ambiguity.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity. 

We are 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.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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