Machine Learning Engineer, Monetization AI/ML
OpenAI
San Francisco, CA · $381k–$555k a year · Posted September 21, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
More in California job market · All Machine Learning Engineer jobs (191) · Technology & Software · Data & Analytics jobs
More roles at OpenAI
- Senior Counsel, Litigation (Safety) · San Francisco, CA
- Recruiter, Data Center Infrastructure · San Francisco, CA
- Controls Engineer, Power Generation and Microgird · San Francisco, CA
- Product Engagement Manager, User Operations · San Francisco, CA
- White Space Manager, Network & Data Halls · San Francisco, CA
- Program Manager, M&A Recruiting | People · San Francisco, CA
Similar jobs
- Senior Platform Engineer · Baker Tilly · CA
- Principal Platform Engineer - Integrations · Baker Tilly · CA
- Specialist Systems Engineer · L3HARRIS Technologies · Carlsbad, CA
- Lead Systems Engineer · L3HARRIS Technologies · Yorba Linda, CA
- Sr. IT Systems Engineer- Palmdale, CA- Secret Required · Sikorsky Aircraft · Palmdale, CA
- Senior Solutions Architect, First Time Deployment Validation - NVIS · Nvidia · Santa Clara, CA
Where San Francisco, CA ranks
Where San Francisco, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for security jobs316 openings · of 20
- #1Best cities for technology jobs7,178 openings · of 100
- #1Best cities for financial services pay after cost of living$173k · of 33
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills35% · of 100
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills in the West Coast35% · of 54
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the West Coast902 jobs · of 47
Rankings about data & analytics jobs
- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
- Most requested AI skills in data and analytics jobs #1 Machine learning engineering (17.1%)
- AI tools named most often in data and analytics jobs #1 Databricks (7.6%)
- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
Data & Analytics jobs · Top Data & Analytics employers · All rankings
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $468,000 a year. Across 66 open machine learning engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $190,000 to $258,000 and the median is $210,000. That is 123% above the median, above the middle half of those listings.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Machine Learning Engineer salaries by state · Check your own pay
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
Skills this job asks for
Say which you have and which you want to build. We use it to match you to jobs like this one.
About the job
ABOUT THE TEAM
The Monetization team is a new cross-functional group working across engineering, product, research, and design to build the foundational systems that will help OpenAI scale access to intelligence responsibly. Our mission is to develop user-first, privacy-preserving monetization products—including next-generation ads experiences—that strengthen user trust, unlock economic opportunity, and support OpenAI’s long-term innovation.
Monetization plays a critical role in enabling OpenAI to continue pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities while ensuring the benefits of AGI are broadly shared. We believe monetization must be aligned with user value, uphold rigorous privacy and safety standards, and sustain a healthy ecosystem of developers and businesses.
This team operates in a greenfield environment and moves quickly through prototyping, experimentation, and iterative deployment. We partner closely with Product, Design, and Research to bring research breakthroughs into real-world systems at global scale.
ABOUT THE ROLE
As a Research Engineer in OpenAI's Monetization Group, you will have the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in AI. You'll contribute to deploying state-of-the-art models in production environments, helping turn research breakthroughs into tangible solutions. 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 Deploy: Design and deploy 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 researchers, software engineers, and product managers to understand complex business challenges 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, Data Science, or a related field.
- 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.
- Experience with search relevance, ads ranking or LLMs is a plus.
- Are familiar with methods of training and fine-tuning large language models, such as distillation, supervised fine-tuning, and policy optimization
- 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 https://cdn.openai.com/policies/eeo-policy-statement.pdf.
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.
To notify OpenAI that you believe this job posting is non-compliant, please submit a report through this form https://form.asana.com/?d=57018692298241&k=5MqR40fZd7jlxVUh5J-UeA. No response will be provided to inquiries unrelated to job posting compliance.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link https://form.asana.com/?k=bQ7w9h3iexRlicUdWRiwvg&d=57018692298241.
OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy https://cdn.openai.com/policies/global-employee-and-contractor-privacy-policy.pdf
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.