Network Security Engineer

About the Team

OpenAI’s Platform and Infrastructure Engineering organization advances the mission of deploying artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of all by delivering secure, scalable, and resilient technology solutions. Our team builds and maintains robust infrastructure that safeguards OpenAI’s data and systems while ensuring employees are well-equipped and seamlessly connected. By prioritizing security, reliability, and user-centric solutions, we empower OpenAI employees to drive impactful AI research, corporate operations, and product innovation.

About the Role

As a Network Security Engineer at OpenAI, you will play a critical role in architecting and maintaining both campus and cloud network infrastructure. You will design and implement secure, scalable, and high-performing network solutions that bridge on-premises environments with public cloud environments. Your expertise in routing and switching will ensure optimal network performance and reliability across diverse environments. You will drive automation initiatives through Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) and GitOps methodologies, streamlining network provisioning, enforcing configuration consistency, and optimizing IT workflows. Your responsibilities will also include developing CI/CD pipelines tailored for IT infrastructure, enhancing deployment efficiency, and integrating robust network security measures. You will establish comprehensive observability and proactive issue resolution strategies.

We are seeking individuals passionate about network automation, security, and scalable IT solutions that enhance both campus and cloud network operations. You should possess extensive experience with enterprise network technologies, alongside a strong foundation in network security fundamentals. In this role, you will collaborate closely with Security, IT, and Engineering teams to align automation workflows with Zero Trust principles, enforce role-based access controls, and implement security best practices across network infrastructure. If you excel in cross-functional settings and have a proven track record of delivering innovative, secure network solutions, this role offers a unique opportunity to shape OpenAI’s security-first, automation-driven network ecosystem.

In this role, you will:

• Design, build, implement, and maintain secure, scalable, and performant network infrastructure, automation workflows, and network security solutions.

• Drive critical network and IT automation through software development and first-party tooling to optimize network operations, streamline infrastructure management, and enhance IT service delivery.

• Leverage modern Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) methodologies and GitOps-driven automation to orchestrate network infrastructure, enforce configuration consistency, and scale IT workflows efficiently.

• Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines for IT infrastructure, deploying to progressively tested environments across multiple clouds (Azure, AWS, GCP).

• Design and implement scalable, network-focused internal tools and dashboards to streamline network operations, optimize network workflows, and provide real-time visibility into network performance.

• Collaborate with security teams to align IT automation initiatives with Zero Trust principles and compliance frameworks.

• Implement role-based access controls (RBAC) and mitigate security risks through automated policies.

• Work cross-functionally to identify areas for IT service improvement and implement self-service solutions.

• Manage multiple projects and initiatives, ensuring efficiency and alignment with business objectives.

You may be a fit for this role if you have:

• Strong experience with Cisco IOS, Cisco Meraki, Palo Alto or similar Enterprise network vendors.

• Strong Routing and Switching experience including routing protocols (BGP, OSPF and MPLS)

• Experience with Network monitoring tools/protocols and logging pipelines like SNMP, Syslog, Netflow, Elasticsearch (ELK Stack) and Grafana

• Strong understanding of network security principles including ACLs, Firewalls, VPN, 802.1x authentication, profiling and RBAC

• Proficiency in a modern programming language (Python, Golang, Ruby, etc.)

• Strong knowledge of and experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP) and infrastructure management.

• Experience managing corporate infrastructure at scale with Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices & GitOps workflows (Terraform, Ansible, Chef, etc.) as well as cloud automation best practices.

• Experience integrating corporate IT infrastructure with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows.

• Proven track record of developing and maintaining internal tools to streamline IT operations and business processes.

• Demonstrated experience developing internal automation solutions, such as Slack bots and integrations.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills and ability to work cross-functionally with IT, security, and business teams.

• Clear and concise communication skills to explain technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• A self-starter with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Understanding of wireless design, channel planning and site surveys.

You might thrive in this role if you have:

• Expertise and experience with SSL Inspection.

• Deep experience with containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.

• Experience with campus LAN/WAN implementations including DWDM and optical networking

• Experience with and knowledge of data center best practices including architecture design and interconnects.

This is a hybrid role and will require 3 days a week in our San Francisco office.

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.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. 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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