O

OpenAI

Builds AI models and the ChatGPT assistant

Forward Deployed Security Engineer

Full-Time
$266k - $445k/yr+ Relocation assistance
Senior
Washington, DC, USA
HybridThree days in the office per week; travel to and work from customer sites is required. Relocation assistance is available.
CybersecuritySecurity Engineering & Architecture

About the job

Requirements
  • An active United States security clearance.
  • At least 5 years of security engineering experience, emphasizing infrastructure security, application security, network security, datacenter security, and systems engineering.
  • Familiarity with deployment models for cloud platforms, including Azure and AWS, and infrastructure primitives including Kubernetes and Terraform.
  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python or Golang, or similar languages.
  • A track record of developing high-quality, scalable, and secure infrastructure.
  • Experience with security operations, including insider threat monitoring, network or endpoint detection and response, or red-team or penetration-testing operations.
  • Comprehensive knowledge of modern adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures.
  • Ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a cross-functional team environment.
  • Ability to work in dynamic environments and navigate ambiguity.
Responsibilities
  • Embed with strategic public-sector customers to implement and maintain robust security controls.
  • Serve as a design and technical thought partner, applying security expertise to protective controls including access controls, authentication, encryption, network security, and system security.
  • Collaborate with teammates, cross-functional teams, customers, and service providers to achieve security and compliance goals.
  • Maintain continuity of critical security and monitoring controls through routine security assessments, threat monitoring, and security validation exercises.
  • Work on-site and hands-on throughout the deployment lifecycle, securing deployments from design through production and ongoing operations.

About the company

OpenAI researches and builds artificial intelligence models and turns them into products for people, developers, and businesses, with a stated mission of making sure artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. Its launch of ChatGPT in 2022 brought generative AI into everyday use. People use ChatGPT to ask questions, write, code, and analyze files, developers build OpenAI's models into their own apps through its API, and its Codex agent works through coding tasks on its own. OpenAI earns money from ChatGPT subscriptions, business plans, and API usage. Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others co-founded it in 2015; it is based in San Francisco and overseen by a nonprofit, the OpenAI Foundation.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

Late Stage VC

Total Funding

$226.5B

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2015

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Sales are compounding: OpenAI's yearly revenue pace doubled from $24 billion in March 2026 to nearly $50 billion in September.
  • Equity turns into cash regularly: staff sold $7 billion of shares in August 2026, after $6.6 billion in October 2025.
  • Room to grow: OpenAI plans to nearly double staff to 8,000 by year-end and listed 816 openings in October 2026.

What critics are saying

  • Its chief rival pulled ahead: Claude maker Anthropic's $965 billion valuation in May 2026 topped OpenAI's $852 billion.
  • Profits are years away: OpenAI's own forecast, reported in September 2026, shows $278 billion of cash burn through 2030.
  • Expect leadership churn: 15 senior leaders, including the revenue and applications chiefs, left OpenAI between January and September 2026.

What makes OpenAI unique

  • A nonprofit is in charge: the OpenAI Foundation appoints OpenAI's whole board and held a 26% stake in October 2025.
  • ChatGPT reaches about one in seven people on Earth: 1.2 billion used it each week as of September 2026.
  • Microsoft is a major part-owner: it held about 27% in October 2025 and licenses OpenAI's models through 2032.

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Benefits

  • Health insurance
  • Dental and vision insurance
  • Flexible spending account for healthcare and dependent care
  • Mental healthcare service
  • Fertility treatment coverage
  • 401(k) with generous matching
  • 20-week paid parental leave
  • Life insurance (complimentary)
  • AD&D insurance (complimentary)
  • Short-term/long-term disability insurance (complimentary)
  • Optional buy-up life insurance
  • Flexible work hours and unlimited paid time off (we encourage 4+ weeks per year)

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

6%

1 year growth

1%

2 year growth

2%
Yahoo Finance
Oct 20th, 2026
OpenAI acquires Orchestra Bio to boost its Rosalind life sciences AI push

OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a startup that builds AI agents to help pharmaceutical companies manage drug development. Financial terms were not disclosed. OpenAI will fold Orchestra's team and technology into Rosalind, its suite of AI models and tools for life sciences researchers. Orchestra's platform lets scientists hand tasks such as monitoring studies, tracking drug development timelines, and spotting potential delays to AI agents. The deal follows a similar move by rival Anthropic, which acquired Coefficient Bio in April for roughly $400 million, according to The Information. Both companies are pushing into science beyond their core strengths in coding and cybersecurity. OpenAI says developing a new medicine typically takes 10 to 15 years, a timeline it hopes AI can shorten.

Business Insider
Oct 19th, 2026
Judge keeps ex-OpenAI engineer jailed over bugging charge, citing Saudi flight risk despite $1M bond offer

A San Francisco judge ordered former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan to stay in jail before trial, citing the risk that he might flee to Saudi Arabia. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse ruled on Monday. The Justice Department arrested Alfozan, 35, on October 9. It charged him with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications, after an FBI affidavit said he hid a recording device behind a television in an OpenAI conference room. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years. Tse noted that Alfozan's wife and son had moved to Saudi Arabia, that Alfozan had booked a one-way ticket there, and that the country has no extradition agreement with the US. His lawyers offered an ankle monitor and a bond of about $1 million. The next hearing is set for early November.

Rest of World
Oct 19th, 2026
Can developing nations cope with Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots AI agents?

Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots, new personal agents that book tables, buy groceries, and handle other online chores, may struggle in developing nations, experts told Rest of World. Muse has been downloaded 9 million times in the US and Canada since September 8, and Meta wants a global launch. Language and culture are a hurdle. South African startup ManyHands says getting its assistant to work in all 11 official spoken languages has been hard, and researchers warn agents could impose Western assumptions. Networks are another worry. Cisco says agents generate up to 450% more traffic per task than humans, and poor connectivity could limit what they can do. Cost and access matter too. Only 36% of Africans used the internet in 2025, and Dots costs at least $100 a month.

Business Insider
Oct 15th, 2026
AI lab spy warnings spark memes after FBI arrests OpenAI employee over bugged meeting room

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that AI labs are warning employees about spies, including seduction attempts. The story set off a wave of memes on X. The warnings follow the FBI's arrest of OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan, who was charged with bugging one of the lab's conference rooms. Alfozan, who was fired, has yet to enter a plea. Reporter Erin Woo quoted the advice as: "If someone is trying to seduce you, first consider — could they be a spy???" Users joked that employees should doubt any unusually attractive admirer. Alexandr Wang, Meta's chief AI officer, quipped that in the South Bay, a stranger who talks to you is a sign "something is up." Others saw the attention as a recruiting perk.

Citybiz
Oct 15th, 2026
OpenAI Acquihires Founders of AI Marketing Startup Notch

OpenAI has made a strategic move to bolster its commercial AI expertise by acquihiring Vinay Jain and Aman Jain, the... Read More