System Power Engineer, Consumer Devices

About the Role

OpenAI is seeking a System Power Engineer to characterize, measure, and optimize power consumption across our embedded hardware products. In this role, you will work closely with Electrical Engineering and system software teams to build power test automation, measure subsystem-level power usage, and drive improvements that directly impact battery life, thermal behavior, charging performance, and system reliability.

You will help establish the methodologies and metrics used to understand and improve power efficiency across real-world product experiences, from controlled lab environments to representative day-in-the-life usage scenarios. This role requires hands-on experience with embedded hardware platforms, power instrumentation, and the analysis of power profiles and system behavior.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA. We use a hybrid work model of four days per week in the office and one day working remotely. Relocation assistance is available for new hires.

In this role, you will

• Define and develop power testing automation to evaluate system behavior across a range of workloads and operating conditions.
• Measure subsystem-level power consumption using power breakout probes and other lab instrumentation.
• Develop and execute power characterization tests spanning basic workloads, complex mixed-use scenarios, and representative day-of-use experiences.
• Partner closely with Electrical Engineers to identify opportunities to improve system power efficiency.
• Collaborate with software engineering teams to optimize energy usage in scenarios that impact battery life, device temperature, charging performance, and overall user experience.
• Define repeatable power benchmarks and measurement methodologies to assess launch readiness and track performance throughout the product lifecycle.

You might thrive in this role if you have

• Experience measuring and optimizing power consumption on embedded hardware platforms.
• Demonstrated experience designing and operating complex hardware-in-the-loop laboratories and orchestrating device testing at scale.
• Experience analyzing power profiles and correlating them with overall system performance.
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally with Electrical Engineering, embedded software, systems, and product teams.
• Experience defining repeatable power benchmarks and launch readiness metrics for hardware products.
• Strong proficiency in Python.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with statistics, experimentation methodologies, or data science concepts.
• Experience performing subsystem-level power measurements using power breakout probes or similar lab instrumentation.
• Experience working with battery-powered consumer products and optimizing for battery life, thermals, and charging performance.