OpenAI· Robotics· San Francisco
Technical Program Manager, Robotics Data Acquisition
Comp$257K – $300K
Classified Tasks (13)
Automate 0%Augment 62%Human-Only 38%
Augment (8)
AI assists, human decides
Own and scale systems that power robotic data acquisition across development and evaluation environments.
technical
Ensure DAQ stations and associated workflows reliably produce high-quality data for model training and evaluation.
operational
Ensure DAQ stations (robots, sensors, compute, operator interfaces) are fully integrated, validated, and production-ready across multiple sites.
operational
Build and manage detailed program plans.
administrative
Identify program risks early.
analytical
Model and plan DAQ capacity (stations, operators, uptime) to meet evolving data demands while balancing speed, cost, and quality.
analytical
Partner with engineering and data teams to define and enforce data quality standards, ensuring consistency and usability for downstream model training.
analytical
Drive improvements in system reliability, utilization, and efficiency through instrumentation, feedback loops, and process optimization.
technical
Human-Only (5)
Requires human judgment
Drive end-to-end execution of complex cross-functional programs integrating robotic platforms, sensing systems, operator tooling, and data pipelines into production-ready systems.
leadership
Translate ambiguous research needs into scalable DAQ infrastructure and repeatable processes with clear SLAs, metrics, and reliability targets.
analytical
Lead the roadmap, execution, and scaling of robotic DAQ systems, ensuring alignment with research, engineering, and operational priorities.
leadership
Coordinate across robotics hardware, software, infrastructure, and operations teams to deliver tightly integrated, deployment-ready data collection systems.
communication
Drive mitigation of risks across technical and operational domains.
operational
Job description
Technical Program Manager, Robotics Data Acquisition | OpenAI Careers ## Technical Program Manager, Robotics Data Acquisition Robotics - San Francisco Apply now(opens in a new window) **About Team** Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and advancing toward AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world environments. Working across the full model and systems stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the physical constraints of real-world systems to improve people’s lives. **About the Role** We’re looking for a Technical Program Manager to own and scale the systems that power robotic data acquisition across our development and evaluation environments. This role sits at the intersection of Robotics Engineering, Operations, and Infrastructure, ensuring that DAQ stations and associated workflows reliably produce high-quality data for model training and evaluation. You will drive end-to-end execution of complex, cross-functional programs that integrate robotic platforms, sensing systems, operator tooling, and data pipelines into cohesive, production-ready systems. Success in this role requires strong systems thinking, operational rigor, and the ability to translate ambiguous research needs into scalable infrastructure. **In this role you will:** * **Own DAQ Program Delivery** Lead the roadmap, execution, and scaling of robotic DAQ systems, ensuring alignment with research, engineering, and operational priorities. * **Drive Cross-Functional Integration** Coordinate across robotics hardware, software, infrastructure, and operations teams to deliver tightly integrated, deployment-ready data collection systems. * **Operationalize Data Collection Systems** Translate experimental and research workflows into repeatable, scalable DAQ processes with clear SLAs, metrics, and reliability targets. * **System Readiness & Deployment** Ensure DAQ stations (robots, sensors, compute, operator interfaces) are fully integrated, validated, and ready for production use across multiple sites. * **Program Execution & Risk Management** Build and manage detailed program plans, identify risks early, and drive mitigation across technical and operational domains. * **Capacity & Throughput Planning** Model and plan DAQ capacity (stations, operators, uptime) to meet evolving data demands, balancing speed, cost, and quality. * **Quality & Data Integrity Oversight** Partner with engineering and data teams to define and enforce data quality standards, ensuring consistency and usability for downstream model training. * **Continuous Improvement** Drive improvements in system reliability, utilization, and efficiency through instrumentation, feedback loops, and process optimization. **You might thrive in this role if you:** * 5+ years of experience in technical program management, systems engineering, or operations in hardware, robotics, or infrastructure-heavy environments * Strong systems-level thinking across hardware, software, and operational workflows * Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional programs with high ambiguity * Experience scaling physical systems (labs, factories, robotics fleets, or test infrastructure) * Comfortable working close to hardware and debugging real-world system issues * Strong analytical skills; able to model capacity, throughput, and system performance * Excellent communication skills with the ability to align diverse stakeholders **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 m