Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Life Sciences

Forward Deployed Engineering at OpenAI

OpenAI’s Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team partners with global
pharma, biotech, CROs, and research institutions to deploy production-grade
AI systems across the R&D value chain.

We operate at the intersection of customer delivery and core platform development,
turning early deployments into repeatable system standards and evaluation practices
that scale across regulated environments.

About the Role

We are hiring a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to push the frontier of what is possible
across drug discovery (e.g., target identification, molecular design, pre-clinical)
and drug development (e.g., trial design, trial operations, biostatistics).

You will lead end-to-end deployments of OpenAI models inside life sciences organizations
and research institutions, working with customers who are deep experts in their
scientific and operational domains.

Success in this role is measured through production adoption, measurable workflow impact,
and evaluation-driven feedback loops that inform product and model roadmaps.

This role requires close collaboration with Product, Research, Partnerships, GRC, Security,
and GTM teams to deliver systems in regulated contexts, including inspection readiness
with audit trails and traceable evidence.

Location & Work Model

• Based in Munich
• Hybrid work model: 3 days per week in the office
• Relocation assistance available
• Up to 50% travel required

In This Role You Will

• Design and ship production systems around models, owning integrations, data provenance, reliability, and on-call readiness
• Lead discovery and scoping from pre-sales through post-sales, translating ambiguous needs into executable system plans
• Define and enforce launch criteria for regulated environments, including validation evidence, audit readiness, and outcome metrics
• Build systems in sensitive scientific data environments with strict auditability, validation, and access controls
• Run evaluation loops measuring model and system quality against workflow-specific scientific benchmarks
• Use evaluation results to drive model, system, and product improvements
• Distill deployment learnings into reference architectures, validation templates, and benchmark harnesses that scale across life sciences

You Might Thrive in This Role If You

• Have 5+ years of software or ML engineering experience with customer-facing ownership in biotech, pharma, clinical research, or scientific software
• Hold a PhD, MS, or equivalent applied experience in a life sciences–relevant field (encouraged)
• Have owned end-to-end GenAI deployments, from scoping to production adoption
• Have improved systems through evaluation design, error analysis, and iterative evidence generation
• Have delivered AI systems in trial design, regulatory writing, or scientific operations under compliance and audit constraints
• Communicate effectively across scientific, clinical, technical, and executive audiences
• Apply systems thinking with high execution standards, turning failures and audits into improved deployment playbooks

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 AI capabilities while prioritizing safety, responsibility,
and human-centered design. Achieving this mission requires embracing diverse
perspectives, experiences, and voices.

Equal Opportunity & Compliance

OpenAI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race,
religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability,
genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Background checks are conducted in accordance with applicable law. Qualified applicants
with arrest or conviction records will be considered consistent with local and national
fair chance regulations.

Accessibility & Privacy

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.

For more information, please review the OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy.

Join Us

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence can help solve the world’s most significant
challenges. Join us in shaping the future of technology.