Forward Deployed Engineer - Munich

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company working to ensure that advanced AI systems benefit humanity broadly. The company develops and deploys frontier AI models while prioritizing safety and human-centered design. Based in San Francisco with growing teams worldwide, OpenAI partners with organizations to turn research breakthroughs into real-world impact.

The Forward Deployed Engineering team operates where customer needs meet core platform development. As a Forward Deployed Engineer in Munich, you'll lead end-to-end deployments of frontier models with OpenAI's most strategic customers. This is hands-on technical leadership across discovery, scoping, system design, implementation, and production launch.

What you'll do

• Own complete technical delivery from initial prototype through stable production across multiple customer deployments
• Build full-stack systems that solve customer problems while generating feedback that informs OpenAI's product and research roadmaps
• Work embedded within customer engineering teams to understand domain-specific needs and drive adoption of systems you've built
• Scope projects, sequence delivery phases, and surface blockers early to keep momentum
• Make deliberate trade-offs between scope, speed, and quality; pivot delivery plans when needed to protect outcomes
• Write production code across frontend and backend when it accelerates progress or clarifies technical direction
• Develop reusable tools, playbooks, and patterns from field learnings so other teams can move faster
• Feed customer insights back to Research and Product teams about where models excel and where they need improvement

What you'll bring

• 5+ years of engineering or technical deployment experience that includes substantial customer-facing work
• Track record scoping and shipping complex systems in fast-moving or uncertain environments
• Production-grade coding ability in Python, JavaScript, or similar stacks; experience with both frontend and backend
• Hands-on experience building or deploying LLM or generative AI-powered systems and understanding how model behavior shapes user experience
• Ability to distill complexity into clear decisions and move confidently under pressure
• Strong communication across engineering teams, product leaders, and diverse customer stakeholders
• Instinct for early risk detection and course correction without losing pace
• Composure and sound judgment when high stakes emerge

We Offer

• Hybrid work arrangement requiring 3 days per week in the Munich office
• Relocation assistance for candidates relocating to Munich
• Travel up to 50% to visit customer sites and support deployments