Simulation Realism Engineer | OpenAI Careers ## Simulation Realism Engineer Robotics - San Francisco Apply now(opens in a new window) **About the Team** Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives. **About the Role** We are hiring a Simulation Realism Engineer to drive our effort to make simulation quantitatively real for robotics research and product development. This role owns the strategy, tooling and operational practice that close sim→real gaps across physics, sensors and rendering. You will work cross-functionally with research, software, hardware and ops to discover the highest-impact realism gaps, define measurable realism metrics, and deliver engineering solutions — from tuning engine parameters and asset standards to integrating third-party engines and operating sims at scale. This is a hands-on engineering role that blends scientific rigor (measurement & validation) with pragmatic systems work (tooling, cloud ops, and CI/HIL pipelines). **This role is based in San Francisco, CA. This role will require 4 days in the office per week and offer relocation assistance to new employees.** **In this role, you will:** * Define and operationalize realism metrics & protocols. Design experiments and automated tests to find specific areas of non-realism, quantify gaps, and track regressions over time. * Fine-tune engine parameters (contacts, friction, mass/density, solver settings) and object models so simulated dynamics match measured reality. * Evaluate, integrate, and — where necessary — extend 3rd-party physics, rendering, and sensor simulation engines (e.g., Isaac, PhysX, MuJoCo, video renderers or sensor sim frameworks). Lead vendor POCs and benchmark features to influence roadmaps. * Create standards, guidelines, and interactive tools for authoring and validating asset physical/visual properties; implement semi- or fully-automated pipelines to tune and optimize assets for target engines. * Solve technical issues for running engines in the cloud (OS, drivers, GPU), parallelize simulations (batching many runs per engine instance), and harden real-world-facing pipelines so sims can run reliably at scale. * Own validation campaigns (teleop, HIL regression suites, metric computation) and partner with research to close the loop between simulation improvements and downstream model performance. * Document and scale best practices. Produce ergonomic templates, docs, and standards so dozens of engineers and researchers can author realistic tasks and assets quickly. **You might thrive in this role if you:** * Have a strong mathematical & physics background — rigid/soft-body dynamics, contact mechanics, or FEA — and are comfortable reasoning about solvers and numerical stability. * Have hands-on experience with at least one or two production physics engines and sensor/render stacks (MuJoCo, PhysX, Isaac Sim, Newton, GPU renderers, or equivalent), and know how to measure/interpret their failure modes. * Enjoy plumbing every layer of the sim stack: CAD/asset import, collision/visual mesh tradeoffs, contact tuning, real-time loading, and rendering pipelines. * Have led projects that bridge sim and robotics, such as teleoperation data collection, hardware-in-the-loop regression tests, or digital twin efforts. * Experienced building robust tools and processes — CI for sims, asset validation pipelines, or distributed GPU workloads — and care about documentation and ergonomics that let others be productive. * Can collaborate broadly: you want to work directly with researchers to design experiments, with SWE/RE to ship tooling, and with ve

Simulation Realism Engineer

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