Technical Soft Goods Designer

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives.

About the Role

We are seeking a Technical Soft Goods Designer to lead the design, prototyping, and integration of soft goods for robotic systems. In this role, you will work closely with mechanical, electrical, and robotics engineers to develop soft components that interface directly with hardware—such as covers, protective elements, wear surfaces, cable management solutions, and interaction-facing materials.

This is a highly hands-on role for someone who understands both materials and machines. You will source and evaluate fabrics, elastomers, foams, and composites; prototype and test soft goods under real operational conditions; and iterate designs to meet functional, durability, and usability requirements. Your work will shape how robotic systems perform, endure, and interact with the world.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person 4 days a week.

In this role, you will

• Design soft goods that integrate seamlessly with robotic hardware, sensors, and actuators.
• Collaborate closely with mechanical, electrical, and robotics engineers to define requirements and interfaces.
• Source, evaluate, and test materials for durability, flexibility, environmental resistance, and manufacturability.
• Prototype soft components using a range of fabrication methods (cut-and-sew, lamination, molding, bonding, etc.).
• Build and iterate on prototypes to support testing in varied operating conditions.
• Document designs, material choices, and test results to support iteration and handoff.
• Provide technical feedback to engineering teams based on real-world performance and failure modes.

You might thrive in this role if you

• Have experience designing and prototyping technical soft goods for hardware products or systems.
• Are comfortable working closely with hardware and robotics engineers to solve interface and integration challenges.
• Understand material properties and tradeoffs across textiles, elastomers, foams, and flexible composites.
• Enjoy hands-on prototyping and are energized by fast iteration cycles.
• Can translate functional requirements into physical designs that perform under real-world constraints.
• Are organized, detail-oriented, and thoughtful about documentation and repeatability.
• Are curious, experimental, and excited to help define best practices in a still-emerging design space.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience designing soft goods for robotics, wearables, medical devices, or outdoor/industrial products.
• Familiarity with environmental testing, abrasion testing, or durability validation.
• Experience working with contract manufacturers or specialty fabricators.
• Comfort iterating between early exploratory prototypes and more production-oriented designs.

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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