Packaging Design Engineer

OpenAI is a place where extraordinary people gather to do their best work. Passion works here — our community is made up of designers, engineers, scientists, and dreamers. We believe packaging is not just a protective layer — it's the first experience users have with a product. As part of our Hardware team, you’ll help create innovative, beautiful, and sustainable packaging that elevates the experience of our products while advancing OpenAI’s mission.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the design and development of world-class packaging for OpenAI hardware — from early concept to mass production.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Industrial Design, Product Design, and Operations to deliver solutions that are functional, sustainable, and delightful.

• Prototype and validate packaging using rigorous testing processes and performance standards.

• Guide design reviews, own technical documentation, and interface with global manufacturing partners.

• Push boundaries of material science and structural creativity, while aligning with OpenAI’s sustainability commitments.

• Influence design direction and technical strategy within the hardware packaging space.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• A deep understanding of packaging materials, structural design, and manufacturing processes.

• Strong proficiency in CAD tools such as ArtiosCAD, SolidWorks, or Siemens NX.

• Experience leading packaging programs from concept through and validation leading to high-volume production.

• Expertise in validating packaging via ISTA standards or equivalent protocols.

• Familiarity with environmental compliance, recycling stream compatibility, and circular design principles.

• Strong communication and leadership skills across both internal teams and external partners.

• A passion for crafting elegant, efficient, and sustainable packaging experiences.

• Willingness to travel internationally as needed to support development and production.

Required qualifications:

• BS or MS in Packaging Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related technical field.

• Demonstrated excellence in packaging innovation for hardware or consumer products.

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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