How to apply for Security Engineer, Infrastructure Security

About OpenAI

OpenAI is a frontier AI research and product company at the forefront of developing safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence. Its teams work on alignment, policy, and security, tackling some of the most challenging and impactful problems in technology today. Working here means contributing to cutting-edge AI while addressing critical security concerns that affect millions of users.

About the role

As a Security Engineer on the Infrastructure Security team, you will design and build security controls to protect OpenAI's diverse infrastructure from sophisticated adversaries and insider threats. You'll collaborate with engineering teams to deploy enhancements across cloud, on-prem, and datacenter environments, with high-impact projects like checkpoint encryption, network isolation, and secret management for AI workloads. This role is crucial for safeguarding the infrastructure that powers OpenAI's AI models and products.

A typical day

A typical day might involve collaborating with infrastructure engineers to design and implement a new encryption mechanism for model checkpoints, reviewing security architecture for a new cloud deployment, and responding to a security incident or conducting a threat modeling session. You'll balance proactive security design with reactive problem-solving, always keeping scalability and performance in mind.

Who OpenAI is looking for

• Deep experience in container security (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and orchestration security, including policy enforcement and runtime protection.
• Strong background in authentication/authorization systems (e.g., OAuth, OIDC, RBAC) and implementing them at scale.
• Proven ability to secure cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-prem datacenters, with knowledge of network isolation and encryption.
• Track record of deploying security enhancements across broad-scale infrastructure, collaborating with engineering teams to integrate controls seamlessly.

Tips for this application

• Highlight specific projects where you implemented container security or orchestration security in production environments, especially if they involved AI/ML workloads.
• Demonstrate familiarity with OpenAI's tech stack and security challenges by referencing their blog posts or public research on infrastructure security.
• Quantify the impact of your security work (e.g., 'reduced attack surface by X%', 'secured Y petabytes of data') to show scale.
• Emphasize experience with checkpoint encryption, network isolation, or secret management, as these are directly mentioned in the job description.
• Show alignment with OpenAI's mission and safety-focused culture; mention any contributions to open-source security tools or research.

What to cover in your cover letter

['Your hands-on experience designing security controls for cloud and on-prem infrastructure, particularly in containerized environments.', "Specific examples of high-impact security projects you've led, such as implementing encryption at rest or network segmentation for large-scale systems.", 'Your ability to collaborate with engineering teams to deploy security enhancements without disrupting development velocity.', "Your understanding of the unique security challenges in AI infrastructure and your commitment to OpenAI's mission of safe AGI development."]

Research before applying

• Read OpenAI's security-related blog posts and research papers to understand their approach to infrastructure security and AI safety.
• Investigate OpenAI's infrastructure stack (e.g., use of Kubernetes, cloud providers, custom hardware) from public engineering talks or job postings.
• Understand the concept of 'checkpoint encryption' in the context of AI model training and why it's critical for OpenAI.
• Explore recent security incidents or challenges in the AI industry to contextualize the threats OpenAI faces.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you design a secure multi-tenant container orchestration platform for AI training workloads?
• Describe a time you implemented authentication/authorization for a large-scale distributed system. What challenges did you face?
• What are the key considerations for securing data in transit and at rest across cloud and on-prem environments?
• How do you approach threat modeling for infrastructure that handles sensitive AI models and data?
• Given OpenAI's focus on safety, how would you balance security controls with the need for rapid experimentation and deployment?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Focusing only on generic security experience without tying it to large-scale, distributed infrastructure like OpenAI's.
• Neglecting to mention collaboration with engineering teams; this role requires heavy cross-functional work.
• Ignoring the AI-specific context; candidates who don't understand or care about AI safety may be seen as a poor fit.