What the postings ask engineers to do
The New York metro list includes OpenAI’s financial-services FDE role. The posting combines discovery and scoping with production delivery for banks, asset managers, insurers, and other regulated institutions. It names launch controls, audit artifacts, evaluation, acceptance thresholds, and post-production adoption. The listed base range is $185,000–$300,000, with a hybrid schedule, three office days each week, and up to 50% travel.
The Bay Area list includes roles with different operating conditions. 11x’s FDE role describes full-stack systems for AI voice agents and production operation. It allows remote work across the US and Canada, with an in-office option in San Francisco, and lists a $180,000–$200,000 base range. Handshake’s senior enterprise-AI role lists $220,000–$300,000 and on-site work. It focuses on enterprise customer workflows, production AI applications, agent evaluation, and reusable deployment practices.
Those examples are not interchangeable benchmarks. A regulated customer setting, seniority, production responsibility, office schedule, and travel can each change the commitment behind a role. A title match alone does not tell you whether two jobs are comparable.
How to compare an offer or posting
Start with the employer’s stated location and work arrangement. Then compare the customer or internal audience, the point in the deployment lifecycle you would own, required experience, travel language, and the salary range. Check bonus, equity, benefits, and vesting separately. If a posting does not mention sponsorship, travel, or a condition you care about, treat it as unknown and ask the employer.