About the Team
The Product Quality team at OpenAI is responsible for ensuring that every hardware product we build meets the highest standards of reliability, cosmetic fit & finish, and overall user experience.
We partner closely with design, reliability, operations, and manufacturing teams worldwide to establish scalable quality systems from early development builds through mass production and field performance.
About the Role
As a Product Quality Manager (PQM), you will be our in-region quality leader, driving product quality execution across multiple global manufacturing sites.
You’ll partner tightly with cross-functional teams in the United States and abroad, as well as with contract manufacturers and key component suppliers, to ensure that every build stage meets OpenAI’s uncompromising standards.
This role requires deep technical expertise, strong leadership, and an ability to operate effectively in fast-paced, hands-on environments.
In this role, you will:
Drive in-region quality execution across multiple manufacturing sites, ensuring builds meet reliability, cosmetic, and user experience standards.
Build and scale quality management systems (QMS) spanning development, validation builds, ramp, and mass production.
Provide day-to-day quality support and guidance to contract manufacturers and suppliers.
Oversee quality labs and test infrastructure, including IQC, OQC, ORT, in-line inspections, and other test processes.
Aggregate and analyze manufacturing, test, and field data to build real-time dashboards and surface top quality issues.
Lead root cause investigations, corrective/preventive actions, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Partner with support teams to reduce field return rates and improve the customer experience.
Plan and execute audits to confirm adherence to OpenAI standards, SOPs, and regulatory requirements.
Communicate quality status clearly to cross-functional stakeholders, escalating issues rapidly when needed.
Capture lessons learned to feed forward into design, supplier selection, and future product improvements.
You might thrive in this role if you:
Have 10+ years of experience in product quality, manufacturing quality, operations, or hardware engineering for high-volume consumer electronics (or adjacent high-reliability industries).
Hold a BS in Mechanical, Electrical, Manufacturing, or Materials Engineering (or related field); advanced degree a plus.
Have successfully launched new hardware products from proto through mass production.
Possess deep knowledge of consumer electronics assembly & test processes, including PCBA, integration, calibration, and cosmetic inspection.
Bring strong expertise in statistics and analytics: SPC, DOE, capability analysis, sampling plans, GR&R, FMEA, and reliability statistics.
Have demonstrated success leading root cause investigations and using FA tools such as X-ray/CT, cross-section, and microscopy.
Are proficient in interpreting GD&T and tolerance stacks, with working knowledge of metrology.
Have experience with automated data pipelines and dashboards (SQL, Python/R, Tableau or similar), with bonus points for applying AI/ML to quality datasets.
Communicate with clarity and impact, whether in working-level discussions or executive reviews.
Thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, and are willing to be hands-on.
Are open to significant international travel (up to ~50%).