OpenAI· Model Deployment for Business· San Francisco
Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering
Comp$162K – $302K
Classified Tasks (20)
Automate 0%Augment 60%Human-Only 40%
Augment (12)
AI assists, human decides
Help FDEs, Product, and Research understand backend implementation workflows and implementation flow trade-offs.
communication
Pressure-test AI-assisted solution ideas against real physical design constraints.
analytical
Raise the quality of customer-facing technical work and deliverables.
communication
Help shape AI-assisted solutions across physical design workflows, including floorplanning, place and route, clocking, timing closure, congestion, power, physical verification, and signoff.
technical
Partner with FDEs and customer SMEs to curate evaluation datasets, golden tasks, rubrics, and acceptance criteria for physical design use cases.
analytical
Ensure evaluations reflect real workflows and meaningful success metrics.
analytical
Build lightweight prototypes, benchmarks, methodology experiments, and internal tools that validate opportunities.
technical
Guide development of prototypes, benchmarks, experiments, and internal tools to accelerate solution development.
leadership
Surface repeated customer signal to Product and Research to influence roadmap, model behavior, and platform capabilities for semiconductor use cases.
communication
Build and iterate production-grade AI systems for semiconductor deployments.
technical
Turn high-touch semiconductor deployments into repeatable solutions and reference architectures.
operational
Translate frontier model capabilities into systems that improve engineering workflows and accelerate innovation.
technical
Human-Only (8)
Requires human judgment
Serve as the physical design SME for semiconductor customer engagements, explaining backend implementation workflows, constraints, and opportunities.
technical
Partner with FDEs during customer discovery and scoping to translate ambiguous pain points into clear solution hypotheses, success criteria, and technical plans.
leadership
Support customer-facing technical conversations as a trusted advisor, engaging with technical leaders.
communication
Guide feasibility and integration decisions across the chip design lifecycle (design, verification, physical design).
technical
Educate and mentor the broader FDE team on physical design concepts, implementation flows, EDA tooling, and key trade-offs.
leadership
Progressively take on broader FDE responsibilities, including customer discovery, solution architecture, prototype development, and production deployment.
leadership
Partner directly with customers to shape deployment strategy and execution.
operational
Drive technical workstreams and coordinate cross-functional technical efforts.
leadership
Job description
Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering | OpenAI Careers ## Physical Design Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering Model Deployment for Business - San Francisco Apply now(opens in a new window) **About the Team** OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team partners with leading semiconductor companies to deploy production-grade AI systems across the entire chip design lifecycle: design, verification, and physical design. We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development, embedding deeply with customers to translate frontier model capabilities into systems that materially improve engineering workflows and accelerate innovation. Our work turns early, high-touch deployments into repeatable solution patterns, reference architectures, and evaluation practices that scale across the semiconductor ecosystem. **About the Role** We are seeking a highly skilled Physical Design Engineer to join our semiconductor-focused Forward Deployed Engineering team. This is a senior IC role that will begin with a strong emphasis on physical design expertise, technical judgment, advisory leverage, and customer credibility, with the expectation that the person will grow into a broader Forward Deployed Engineering role over time. In the near term, you will serve as the team’s physical design SME across semiconductor deployments: helping FDEs, Product, and Research understand backend implementation workflows, pressure-test AI-assisted solution ideas against real physical design constraints, and raise the quality of our customer-facing technical work. You will help the broader team build fluency in implementation flows, EDA tooling, signoff methodology, and the trade-offs that shape physical design decisions in practice. Over time, we expect this role to expand beyond SME support into broader FDE ownership: partnering directly with customers, shaping deployment strategy, building and iterating production-grade AI systems, driving technical workstreams, and helping turn high-touch semiconductor deployments into repeatable solutions. This is a strong fit for someone who brings deep physical design expertise today and is excited to grow into a customer-facing, systems-building, delivery-oriented FDE role. **In this role, you will:** * Serve as the physical design SME for semiconductor customer engagements, helping FDE teams understand backend implementation workflows, constraints, and opportunities * Partner with FDEs during customer discovery and scoping to translate ambiguous pain points into clear solution hypotheses, success criteria, and technical plans * Support customer-facing technical conversations as a trusted advisor, engaging credibly with technical leaders * Help shape AI-assisted solutions across physical design workflows, including floorplanning, place and route, clocking, timing closure, congestion, power, physical verification, and signoff * Guide feasibility and integration decisions across the entire chip design lifecycle: design, verification, and physical design * Partner with FDEs and customer SMEs to curate evaluation datasets, golden tasks, rubrics, and acceptance criteria for physical design use cases, ensuring evals reflect real workflows and meaningful success metrics * Build or guide lightweight prototypes, benchmarks, methodology experiments, and internal tools that validate opportunities and accelerate solution development * Educate and mentor the broader FDE team on physical design concepts, implementation flows, EDA tooling, and key trade-offs so the org can engage customers with greater depth and confidence * Surface repeated customer signal to Product and Research to help shape roadmap, model behavior, and platform capabilities for semiconductor use cases * Progressively take on broader FDE responsibilities, including customer discovery, solution architecture, prototype development, production deployment, and ownership of technic