Simulation Realism Engineer

About this role

OpenAI seeks a Simulation Realism Engineer to close the gap between simulated and real-world robotics through physics, sensor, and rendering optimization. You'll define realism metrics, tune simulation engines, integrate third-party tools, and build scalable infrastructure to validate sim-to-real transfer for AGI-focused robotics research.

What you'll do

• Define and operationalize realism metrics with automated tests to quantify sim-to-real gaps and track regressions
• Fine-tune physics engine parameters (contacts, friction, solvers) and validate object models against real-world measurements
• Evaluate, benchmark, and integrate third-party physics and rendering engines; lead vendor partnerships
• Create asset standards, authoring tools, and automated pipelines for physical/visual property validation
• Deploy and scale simulations in cloud environments with GPU infrastructure, parallelization, and pipeline hardening
• Conduct validation campaigns including teleoperation, hardware-in-the-loop regression tests, and metric analysis

What they're looking for

• Physics simulation (rigid/soft-body dynamics, contact mechanics, numerical solvers)
• Production physics engines (MuJoCo, PhysX, Isaac Sim) and sensor/rendering stacks
• CAD/asset import, collision meshes, and rendering pipelines
• Cloud infrastructure and distributed GPU workloads
• Robotics or hardware-in-the-loop integration experience
• CI/CD tooling and automation pipeline development
• Technical documentation and cross-functional collaboration
• Python or C++ programming

Benefits

• 4 days per week in-office (San Francisco)
• Relocation assistance provided