Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Applied voice is becoming a distinct layer in modern B2B SaaS, sitting between core models and the product surfaces customers actually use. This Research Engineer role is notable because it is positioned at that translation point, taking speech research and shaping it into deployable capabilities for API-led distribution and enterprise-facing applications.
For a SaaS career, the durable value here is learning how to move from model development to production constraints: data pipelines, inference performance, monitoring, and iteration after deployment. Work that spans research and engineering also tends to build strong interfaces with product and customer-facing functions, which is a common pattern in AI-enabled SaaS where adoption depends on reliability, latency, and measurable outcomes rather than demos.
This role will suit professionals who like owning ambiguous problems end to end and can switch between experimentation and software engineering discipline. It is a solid match for engineers who want their machine learning work tied to real usage and are comfortable collaborating across engineering and product to land practical trade-offs. Candidates motivated by applied ML in enterprise contexts, rather than pure research output alone, should find the focus aligned.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
About the Team
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 Applied Voice 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.
About the Role
As a Research Engineer in OpenAI's Applied Voice 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 solutions in B2B applications, API and ChatGPT AVM. If you're excited about making AI technology accessible and impactful, this role is your chance to make a significant mark.
In this role, you will:
Innovate and Build: Design and build advanced machine learning models that solve real-world problems. Bring OpenAI's research from concept to implementation, creating AI-driven applications with a direct impact.
Collaborate with the Best: Work closely with software engineers, product managers and forward deployed engineers to understand complex business challenges, address customer concerns and deliver AI-powered solutions. Be part of a dynamic team where ideas flow freely and creativity thrives.
Optimize and Scale: Implement scalable data pipelines, optimize models for performance and accuracy, and ensure they are production-ready. Contribute to projects that require cutting-edge technology and innovative approaches.
Learn and Lead: Stay ahead of the curve by engaging with the latest developments in machine learning and AI. Take part in code reviews, share knowledge, and lead by example to maintain high-quality engineering practices.
Make a Difference: Monitor and maintain deployed models to ensure they continue delivering value. Your work will directly influence how AI benefits individuals, businesses, and society at large.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Master's/ PhD degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
2+ years of professional engineering experience (excluding internships) in relevant roles at tech and product-driven companies.
Demonstrated experience in deep learning and transformers models
Proficiency in frameworks like PyTorch or Tensorflow
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 optimization
Experience with speech models is a plus.
Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, with a proactive approach to challenges.
Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams.
Ability to move fast in an environment where things are sometimes loosely defined and may have competing priorities or deadlines
Enjoy owning the problems end-to-end, and are willing to pick up whatever knowledge you're missing to get the job done.
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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We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.
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At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.
