New Product Insights Development Engineer

3M; Minnesota; On-site; USD 165,000 - 201,000; Full time

Job summary

The NPI Market Development Engineer at 3M collaborates with global teams to uncover unmet customer needs and translate them into growth opportunities within the Abrasive Systems Division. You will shape opportunity hypotheses, apply market insights, and advance concepts through early NPI gates with cross‑functional partners.

This on‑site role is based at the 3M Center in Maplewood, MN, with up to 20% travel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution.
• 7+ years of combined experience in technical, engineering product, market development, strategy, customer insights, sales, engineering, or a related field in a private, public, government or military environment.
• Ability to influence across functions and translate inputs into executive-level recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead global Voice of Market discovery by engaging customers, application engineers, technology experts, and industry participants to uncover unmet needs and emerging application opportunities.
• Define and prioritize technology-enabled market spaces using customer insights, market trends, competitive dynamics, intellectual property landscapes, manufacturing considerations, and AI-supported analysis.
• Identify and shape a balanced opportunity pipeline across adjacent and emerging growth spaces, with a focus on developing significant NPI opportunities.
• Partner with product, technical, and application teams to develop, test, and validate opportunity hypotheses, value propositions, target applications, and technical solution fit.
• Translate complex technical, customer, and market inputs into clear opportunity narratives that connect customer value and commercial potential with technology capabilities.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Cross-functional collaboration

Market insights

Voice of Market

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution

Job description

NPI Market Development Engineer

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it's equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

Job Description

NPI Market Development Engineer: Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it's equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

The Impact You’ll Make in this Role

The person hired for the position of NPI Market Development Engineer in the Abrasive Systems Division will lead Voice of Technology work to define and validate new growth spaces by uncovering unarticulated unmet customer needs. This role will strengthen ASD’s insight-led NPI pipeline by translating market, customer, competitive, and technology signals into qualified opportunity areas.

Working closely with NPI Market Development Manager (business counterpart), application engineers, technical leaders, and cross-functional partners, this individual will shape opportunity hypotheses, apply AI-enabled tools where appropriate to strengthen market insight synthesis, and advance qualified concepts through early key NPI gates.

Here, You Will Make An Impact By

• Lead global Voice of Market discovery by engaging customers, application engineers, technology experts, and industry participants to uncover unmet needs and emerging application opportunities.
• Define and prioritize technology-enabled market spaces using customer insights, market trends, competitive dynamics, intellectual property landscapes, manufacturing considerations, and AI-supported analysis.
• Identify and shape a balanced opportunity pipeline across adjacent and emerging growth spaces, with a focus on developing significant NPI opportunities.
• Partner with product, technical, and application teams to develop, test, and validate opportunity hypotheses, value propositions, target applications, and technical solution fit.
• Translate complex technical, customer, and market inputs into clear opportunity narratives that connect customer value and commercial potential with technology capabilities.

Your Skills And Expertise

We are seeking an externally focused, curious, and analytical growth leader who can navigate ambiguity, engage cross-functional teams, and translate customer, market, and technical input into executive-level recommendations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start) from an accredited institution
• Seven (7) years of combined experience in technical, engineering product, customer facing market development, strategy, customer insights, sales, engineering, or a related field in a private, public, government or military environment

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include

• PhD degree in science or engineering from an accredited institution
• Five (5) years of in a technical, engineering, strategy or customer facing role in a private, public, government or military environment
• Knowledge of abrasives, industrial markets, manufacturing processes, customer applications, or adjacent spaces where technology can solve customer problems
• Experience in NPI, front-end innovation, Voice of Customer/Market research, business development, growth strategy, or related market insight roles.
• Familiarity with innovation and commercialization methods, including lean startup principles, customer discovery, business models, and opportunity assessment frameworks.
• Experience conducting patent searches, literature reviews, competitive analysis, or technology white-space assessments and synthesizing and analyzing these data.
• Ability to influence across functions, partner with technical teams, simplify complex analysis, and deliver clear recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success working in a global matrix organization with curiosity, resilience, collaboration, and comfort navigating ambiguity.

Work location

This role follows an on-site working model, requiring the employee to work at least four days a week at the 3M Center in Maplewood, MN

Travel

May include up to 20% of domestic/international travel

Relocation Assistance

May be authorized

Legal Requirements

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Support Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Compensation

The expected compensation range for this position is $164,612 - $201,193, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/.

Other Policies and Statements

All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.

Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.

Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.

Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/

3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.