OPT Business Operations Leader Jobs
Business Operations Leader jobs on OPT require employers to sponsor or extend your work authorization before your EAD expires. Most roles fall under STEM-eligible business or management fields, giving qualifying graduates up to 36 months total to build operations experience and transition to long-term sponsorship.
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INTRODUCTION
The AI & ML Operations Engineer designs, builds, and maintains the engineering processes and platform capabilities needed to deploy, monitor, govern, and maintain deployed AI/ML solutions at scale. The role converts validated analytical work into reliable production solutions and manages the operational lifecycle of models and related services while meeting enterprise privacy, security, and support standards.
The engineer partners with data scientists, data engineers, central cloud and infrastructure teams, API and Interoperability teams, Cybersecurity, service owners, and relevant engineering teams to deliver maintainable solutions. The role remains hands-on in engineering, testing, deployment, and troubleshooting while using enterprise-managed capabilities for production data movement, integration, and infrastructure. Scientific method validation remains with the Data Scientist and designated reviewers; this position implements the operational controls for deployed solutions.
This role is part of a new AI & Automation engineering team and will directly design, build, deploy, and support production AI applications and services. Work may include agents, retrieval-augmented generation, orchestration, APIs and integrations, automated evaluation and testing frameworks, observability, monitoring, release and rollback processes, and model/application lifecycle management.
Responsibilities
Model deployment and orchestration. Deploy batch and real-time models and related AI services using approved CI/CD, containers, APIs, and workflow patterns. Build and maintain assigned model deployment and runtime components and coordinate dependencies with enterprise platform owners.
Release management. Automate packaging, versioning, testing, promotion, rollback, and recovery for models and services. Implement retraining or recalibration workflows using criteria defined with data scientists and the required validation and release approvals.
ML platform capabilities. Implement, integrate, configure, and operate approved feature stores, model registries, experiment tracking, and related ML lifecycle capabilities with enterprise platform owners. Partner with Cloud & AI Deployment Engineering and central cloud teams on compute, storage, networking, and deployment.
Deployed-model governance. Implement approved lifecycle controls, access restrictions, lineage, audit trails, change records, and release approvals for deployed models. Maintain traceability across data, code, model, and configuration versions.
Monitoring and reliability. Implement logging, alerts, and monitoring for model performance, drift, data quality, latency, availability, and errors. Work with data scientists, service owners, and relevant engineering teams on measures, thresholds, incident response, and service objectives.
Data and API integration. Work with central data-engineering teams on managed data pipelines and with enterprise API and Interoperability teams on real-time and application integrations, including MuleSoft or other approved API capabilities. Coordinate monitoring, recovery checkpoints, restart procedures, security, and support ownership.
Enterprise support and maintainability. Ensure production solutions have documented dependencies, operational procedures, escalation paths, and ongoing ownership before release. Arrange support with the responsible enterprise teams, including 24/7 coverage where required for critical services, rather than relying on an individual project owner.
AI application operations. Operate assigned LLM, retrieval-based, and agent applications using automated quality checks, model/tool tracing, prompt and configuration versioning, and usage/cost monitoring within the common production lifecycle.
Security and engineering standards. Apply enterprise privacy, security, encryption, role-based access, and sensitive-data controls. Follow common infrastructure-as-code, pull-request, and deployment practices with the responsible teams; bring needed tooling or design exceptions through established review processes.
Collaboration and improvement. Help scientists and partner teams move prototypes into supported production solutions. Review code, tests, and documentation, resolve incidents across dependencies, provide constructive technical feedback, and improve reliability, reproducibility, performance, and efficiency.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- B.S./B.A. in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- At least three years of experience in software engineering, DevOps, or MLOps, including work with production systems.
- Proficiency in Python or another modern programming language, such as Java or Go, sufficient to build, test, troubleshoot, and maintain production components.
- Hands-on experience deploying and operating batch and/or real-time machine-learning models in production.
- Experience with CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or Azure DevOps; source control, code review, automated testing, and controlled releases.
- Hands-on experience with containerization and orchestration technologies using enterprise-approved platforms and tools.
- Experience in cloud and/or hybrid environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
- Working knowledge of SQL and experience with large datasets and data-workflow orchestration; ability to integrate model services with enterprise-managed pipelines and APIs.
- Experience implementing logging, metrics, monitoring, alerts, and operational diagnostics and investigating failures across model, application, data, and infrastructure dependencies.
- Understanding of security best practices, role-based access control, secrets management, and handling sensitive data.
- Ability to independently deliver assigned engineering work, communicate technical tradeoffs, and collaborate with data scientists, clinicians, data/API teams, cloud/DevOps, security, and support functions.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in healthcare, health technology, or another regulated industry handling PHI/PII.
- Familiarity with EHR/EMR integration and healthcare data standards such as HL7/FHIR, ICD, CPT, LOINC, or SNOMED.
- Experience with ML lifecycle tools such as MLflow, Kubeflow, SageMaker, Vertex AI, or Azure ML, including model registries, feature stores, and experiment tracking.
- Experience with ETL/ELT, data warehouse or lakehouse platforms, enterprise API platforms, infrastructure as code, and formal production-support practices.
- Experience monitoring model drift, fairness, and explainability and implementing healthcare AI governance controls.
- Experience operating LLM, retrieval-based, or agent applications, including quality evaluation, tracing, prompt/configuration management, and cost monitoring.
COMPENSATION
- $109,449.60 - $154,523.20 Annual
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship in Business Operations Leader
Target companies with active H-1B sponsorship history
Employers who have sponsored H-1B visas before understand the process and are far more likely to do it again. Operations roles at mid-size to large companies in tech, logistics, and consulting tend to have the strongest sponsorship track records.
Frame your OPT timeline upfront in applications
Be transparent about your authorization window early. Employers filling senior operations roles plan 6 to 12 months ahead, so a clear timeline helps them assess whether sponsorship aligns with their hiring and budgeting cycles before investing in interviews.
Emphasize cross-functional impact in your resume
Business Operations Leaders are hired to reduce friction across teams. Quantify results: cost savings, process cycle time reductions, headcount productivity gains. Concrete outcomes make the sponsorship conversation easier by demonstrating clear return on the investment.
Confirm your degree qualifies for STEM OPT extension
Many business operations roles qualify for the 24-month STEM extension if your degree is in a STEM-designated field like management information systems or industrial engineering. Verify your CIP code with your DSO before applying to roles requiring longer timelines.
Negotiate sponsorship into your offer discussion, not after
Raise H-1B sponsorship during the offer stage, not after you sign. Ask directly whether the company sponsors and whether legal fees are covered. Operations-focused companies that plan long-term typically have a standard answer and immigration counsel already in place.
Build internal credibility before the H-1B lottery deadline
H-1B registrations open in March for an October 1 start. If you join a company in the fall or winter, you have months to demonstrate operational value before your employer must commit. Strong internal advocates significantly improve sponsorship approval decisions.
Business Operations Leader OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Business Operations Leader roles typically qualify for the STEM OPT extension?
It depends on your degree, not the job title. If you graduated in a STEM-designated field such as management information systems, industrial engineering, or operations research, you likely qualify for the 24-month extension. Business administration degrees without a STEM CIP code do not qualify. Confirm your eligibility with your Designated School Official before factoring the extension into your job search timeline.
How do I find Business Operations Leader jobs where employers are open to OPT sponsorship?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for F-1 OPT students and filters job listings by sponsorship willingness, so you are not wasting time on roles that won't support your authorization. Beyond the platform, prioritize companies with consistent H-1B filing histories in operations and strategy functions, as these employers have established immigration processes and are more likely to commit to long-term sponsorship.
Can I start a Business Operations Leader role while my OPT EAD application is still pending?
No. You cannot begin working until your EAD card is physically in hand and the start date printed on it has arrived. Apply for OPT as early as 90 days before your program end date to minimize the gap. If your EAD is delayed, you cannot legally work even if the employer is ready to onboard you.
What happens to my OPT status if I am laid off from a Business Operations Leader role?
F-1 OPT students have a 90-day unemployment allowance across the entire OPT period, not per job. STEM OPT students get an additional 60 days if laid off during the extension, for 150 days total. You must report the job loss to your DSO promptly and begin an active job search immediately to stay within compliance and protect your legal status.
Are Business Operations Leader roles at startups realistic for OPT sponsorship?
Early-stage startups are higher risk for OPT students because H-1B sponsorship requires financial stability and legal infrastructure that many seed or Series A companies lack. Series B and later companies with established HR functions are more viable. If a startup is serious about sponsoring, ask whether they have retained immigration counsel and whether they have sponsored before. A vague answer is a signal to weigh carefully.