Motor Controls Hardware Test

OAI is looking to hire a Motor and Controls Hardware Test Engineer. The Motor and Controls Hardware Test team is responsible for developing and executing the testing strategies that ensure our motors and control systems deliver world-class performance. We work across a wide range of applications—from humanoid robotics to precision motion platforms—partnering closely with design, controls, and integration teams to validate and optimize hardware from early prototype to production.

About the Role
As a Motor and Controls Hardware Test Engineer, you will own the test strategy for motors and control systems, from requirements and simulation to lab-based validation and calibration. You’ll work hands-on with dynos, HIL/SIL systems, and embedded hardware, applying advanced modeling and analysis to ensure robust, high-performance motion control across diverse applications.

We’re looking for people who thrive in fast-paced, prototype-driven environments, can jump seamlessly between first-principles analysis and practical problem-solving, and enjoy working at the intersection of hardware, controls, and systems integration.

Location
This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of 4 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.

In this role, you will:

• Test and characterize motor performance, including tolerance and parameter analysis for design, manufacturing, and integration.

• Evaluate and optimize motor control algorithms (BLDC, PMSM, and others) to meet motion quality requirements.

• Integrate and validate sensing technologies such as encoders, resolvers, and current/voltage sensors.

• Set up and run motor test infrastructure, including dynos, hardware-in-the-loop, and software-in-the-loop systems.

• Apply modeling and simulation tools to tune, calibrate, and validate control loops (torque, speed, position) and observers.

• Test and refine control features like commutation alignment, torque ripple compensation, and loop shaping.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to debug and resolve system-level issues in development and field testing.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have deep expertise in motor design, control theory, and applying them to real-world systems.

• Bring proven experience across multiple domains (traction drives, robotics, compressors, or similar).

• Possess a strong background in power electronics and control algorithms.

• Are skilled in scientific programming (Python, MATLAB/Simulink) for modeling and simulation.

• Have hands-on experience testing embedded systems and developing factory calibration workflows.

• Excel at diagnosing whether performance issues stem from hardware, controls, or other subsystems.

Nice to have:

• Experience with sensor fusion for control and perception.

• C/C++ proficiency.

• Familiarity with AI-driven optimization for control systems.

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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