# Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering

**Company:** [OpenAI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/openai)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Engineering Management
**Salary:** $280k – $335k/yr
**Experience:** 8+ years
**Skills:** JavaScript, Python, Frontend Development, Backend Development, Production Systems, Technical Delivery, Team Leadership, Customer Deployment, Roadmap Planning, High-Pressure Project Management
**Posted:** 2026-06-23

> Lead and grow OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering team, owning end-to-end technical delivery for high-stakes customer deployments and translating field learnings into product and research priorities. Requires 8+ years engineering experience with 2+ years managing FDE or customer-facing engineers.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Lead and grow a team of FDE delivering production systems with frontier models
- Own end-to-end delivery outcomes through clarity, speed, tight coordination, and technical quality
- Codify what works into tools, playbooks, and roadmap inputs that create leverage for both OpenAI and the wider developer community
- Notice early indicators and raise them with urgency, whether in product behavior, customer environments, or delivery practices
- Use judgement to distinguish what requires action and what does not
- Set a high bar for FDE performance and support each person’s growth through direct, actionable feedback
- Define how we staff and support field teams that can scale without added complexity

## Requirements
- 8+ years of engineering or technical delivery experience, including 2+ years managing high-performing FDE or customer-facing engineers
- Have led high-pressure technical projects from prototype to production
- Write and review production-grade code across frontend and backend using Javascript or Python
- Simplify complex work and make fast, sound decisions under pressure
- Elevate team performance through clarity, not process
- Operate with urgency in ambiguous or evolving environments
- Translate field experience into sharp, actionable feedback for Product and Research
- Build deep trust with your team by modeling calm, focus, and judgment when it matters most

## Nice-to-Haves
- Experience writing and reviewing production-grade code across frontend and backend using Javascript or Python

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