Research Engineer - Speech & Realtime Models

Research Engineer – Speech & Realtime Models

B2B Applications – San Francisco

OpenAI is at the forefront of artificial intelligence, driving innovation and shaping the future with cutting‑edge research. Our mission is to ensure that AI's benefits reach everyone. We are looking for visionary Research Engineers to join our Speech & Realtime Models Team, where you'll conduct groundbreaking research on speech models and transform it into real‑world applications that can change industries, enhance human creativity, and solve complex problems.

As a Research Engineer in OpenAI's Speech & Realtime Models Team, you will have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in AI. You'll design and build state‑of‑the‑art speech models (speech‑to‑speech, transcribing, text‑to‑speech, etc.) and help turn research breakthroughs into tangible OpenAI speech products.

• Introducing gpt‑realtime
• Demo – gpt‑realtime‑1.5
• ASR, TTS
• May 2026 – Advancing voice intelligence with new models in the API

• Design and build advanced machine learning models that solve real‑world problems.
• Work closely with software engineers, product managers, and other engineers to understand complex business challenges, address customer concerns, and deliver AI‑powered solutions.
• Implement scalable data pipelines, optimize models for performance and accuracy, and ensure they are production‑ready.
• Stay ahead of the curve by engaging with the latest developments in machine learning and AI, participate in code reviews, share knowledge, and lead by example.
• Monitor and maintain deployed models to ensure they continue delivering value.

• Hold a master’s or PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• Have 5+ years of professional engineering experience (excluding internships) in relevant roles at tech and product‑driven companies.
• Have demonstrated experience in deep learning and transformer models.
• Proficiency in frameworks like PyTorch or Tensor Flow.
• Strong foundation in data structures, algorithms, and software engineering principles.
• Are familiar with methods of training and fine‑tuning large language models, such as distillation, supervised fine‑tuning, and policy optimisation.
• Experience with speech models is a plus.
• Have excellent problem‑solving and analytical skills, with a proactive approach to challenges.
• Can work collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.
• Can move fast in an environment where priorities and deadlines may be loosely defined.
• Enjoy owning problems end‑to‑end and are willing to learn whatever knowledge is missing to get the job done.

$295K – $445K + Offers Equity

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 any other legally protected characteristic.