R&D AI DevOps Leader

Job Description:

R&D AI DevOps Leader

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

As an R&D AI‑DevOps Leader, you will play a critical role in enabling how high‑sensitivity AI research and algorithms move from development to protected, enterprise‑ready deployment. You will be responsible for standing up and operating a secure, on‑prem GitHub Enterprise environment and architecting end‑to‑end DevOps and CI/CD pipelines tailored for highly sensitive, trade‑secret AI systems.

This role is designed for a senior technical leader who thrives at the intersection of AI engineering, secure platform architecture, and enterprise DevOps transformation. You will partner closely with AI researchers, software engineers, infrastructure and security teams, and senior leaders to ensure advanced algorithms and systems can be developed rapidly—while meeting the highest standards for security, traceability, and IP protection.

You will enable teams developing new‑to‑world AI, optimization, and experimental systems by providing the platform architecture, security controls, and delivery discipline required to operate across Tier 0 to Tier 2 security layers in highly regulated and IP‑sensitive environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, stand up, and operate GitHub Enterprise (on‑prem) as the core source‑control and collaboration platform for sensitive AI and algorithm development.
• Architect and implement secure, end‑to‑end CI/CD pipelines supporting AI, data‑intensive, and experimental codebases from research through deployment.
• Define and enforce tiered security architectures (Tier 0–Tier 2), including access controls, isolation boundaries, promotion paths, and release readiness criteria for trade‑secret code.
• Establish secure DevOps standards and practices that balance research velocity with enterprise‑grade controls, auditability, and compliance.
• Partner with AI researchers, software engineers, infrastructure, and security teams to operationalize machine learning, LLM, and optimization systems in protected environments.
• Implement governance, automation, and monitoring to ensure reproducibility, traceability, and risk management across the AI development lifecycle.
• Serve as a technical and strategic bridge—translating security, DevOps architecture, and platform tradeoffs into clear guidance for executive and research leadership.

Your Skills and Expertise

To set you up for success from day one, we are looking for candidates who bring:

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Science, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline (completed and verified prior to start) from an accredited institution.
• 5+ years of experience delivering complex software, cloud, or platform initiatives spanning DevOps, infrastructure, data, or AI‑enabled systems.

Additional Qualifications

• Proven experience architecting and operating secure DevOps and CI/CD platforms in enterprise or highly regulated environments. (Healthcare, government or defense sectors)
  Strong working fluency in AI, machine learning, and algorithm‑driven systems, with the ability to partner credibly with research and engineering teams.
  Demonstrated ability to influence senior technical and business leaders and align stakeholders across R&D, engineering, security, and platform teams.
• Experience designing or operating secure code environments for trade secrets, regulated IP, or highly sensitive algorithms.
• Familiarity with AI governance, model lifecycle management, and secure deployment patterns for ML and LLM‑based systems.
• Experience authoring or operationalizing secure reference architectures and repeatable DevOps patterns at scale.
• Background working with on‑prem, hybrid, or multi‑cloud enterprise environments, including identity, access, and network security considerations.
• Experience working in Agile / iterative delivery environments, balancing platform reliability with rapid innovation.
• Excellent executive communication skills—able to make complex security and architecture decisions transparent and decision‑ready.

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 25% travel

Relocation Benefits: Not authorized

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.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $250,253 - $305,864, 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 05/01/2026 To 05/31/2026 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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