Senior AI/Machine Learning Specialist

3M; Minnesota; On-site; USD 188,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

3M in Maplewood, MN, invites applications for a Senior AI/Machine Learning Specialist. You will join an internal incubator to turn Python research into scalable Rust production systems, leading architecture decisions and collaborating with researchers and engineers.

You will architect real-time and offline inference, optimize concurrency, and build observability, CI/CD, and deployment capabilities for cloud and edge environments while mentoring junior developers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in CS, engineering, mathematics, physics or related field.
• Five years of experience building, scaling or productionizing complex software.
• Ten years of professional software-development experience.

Responsibilities

• Architect scalable runtime components for real-time inference, near-real-time reasoning, and edge deployments.
• Drive concurrency, parallel execution, memory management, and inter-process communication decisions.
• Collaborate with researchers on AI representations, learning mechanisms and causal structures.
• Establish behavioral-equivalence, determinism, reproducibility, and performance testing between research and production.
• Mentor early-career developers and provide hands-on technical leadership.
• Build observability, CI/CD, containerization, deployment, and operational capabilities for cloud and on-premises.

Skills

Python Development

Collaborative Leadership

Agile Scrum

Mathematical Reasoning

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

High School Diploma/GED with 5 years software experience

Tools

Rust

C++

Job description

Job Description

Senior AI/Machine Learning Specialist

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 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

As a Senior AI Software Developer, you will join an internal incubator building a new-to-the-world AI architecture and a new technical category. You will be a hands-on senior individual contributor, technical lead, and software architect who turns Python research implementations into scalable, production-grade systems. Working closely with distinguished researchers and senior engineers/architects, you will shape the Rust architecture, make concurrency and parallelization decisions, and personally build critical components. This role is designed for an architect who codes, tests, profiles, and delivers. Leading the transition of experimental Python research code into reliable, maintainable, and high-performance Rust components.

• Architecting and implementing scalable runtime components for real-time inference, near-real-time reasoning, large offline simulations, cloud services, on-premises deployments, and embedded or edge environments.
• Evaluating and driving decisions for concurrency, parallel execution, memory management, inter-process communication, and distributed processing.
• Working directly with researchers on mathematical representations, activation dynamics, mapping, retrieval, learning mechanisms, and causal structures within clearly defined system components.
• Establishing behavioral-equivalence, determinism, reproducibility, regression, simulation, performance, and reliability testing between research and production implementations.
• Profiling CPU, memory, latency, throughput, and scaling behavior; identifying bottlenecks and implementing measurable improvements.
• Defining stable interfaces in a modular, interface-driven architecture that protects proprietary intellectual property while enabling teams to build, test, and optimize clearly defined subsystems.
• Building observability, CI/CD, containerization, deployment, and operational capabilities for Cloud and on-premises environments.
• Mentoring early-career developers and modeling low-ego, hands-on technical leadership across research and engineering teams.
• Contributing to inventions, patents, and managed publication or conference activities consistent with program requirements.

Your Skills And Expertise

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M is looking for candidates who must have the following qualifications:

OR

• Bachelor's degree or higher in computer science, computer engineering, applied mathematics, physics, cognitive science, computational neuroscience, or a related field (completed and verified prior to start)

AND

• High School Diploma/GED (completed and verified prior to start) AND five years of experience building, scaling, or productionizing complex software, research systems, simulation platforms, compilers, high-performance computing applications, or algorithm-intensive technology.
• Ten (10) years of professional software-development experience building production systems.
• Five (5) years of experience productionizing research, scientific, simulation, compiler, high-performance computing, or algorithm-intensive software.

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

• Demonstrated production experience with Rust, or substantial C++ experience at scale with demonstrated ability and commitment to develop in Rust.
• Strong Python skills and experience translating Python algorithms or prototypes into production software.
• Exposure to symbolic AI, neural-symbolic systems, cognitive architectures, causal reasoning, analogical reasoning, reinforcement learning, constraint solving, or simulation systems.
• Experience designing concurrent, parallel, performance-sensitive, or distributed systems, including machine learning and reinforcement learning environments.
• Experience creating automated tests and benchmarks for correctness, behavioral fidelity, determinism, reproducibility, reliability, and performance.
• Ability to understand unfamiliar algorithms, reason mathematically, collaborate effectively with researchers, and make sound tradeoffs between algorithm changes and reference fidelity.
• A collaborative, low-ego working style and sound judgment when handling confidential or access-controlled intellectual property.
• Experience working with Agile Scrum methodologies.

Location: Onsite in 3M Center Maplewood, MN

Travel: May include up to 5% travel

Relocation Benefits: May be offered

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

Supporting 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.

Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $188,251 - $230,084, 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/.

Good Faith Posting Date Range 09/04/2026 To 10/04/2026 Or until filled

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.

Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @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.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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