OPT Machine Learning Engineer Jobs
Machine Learning Engineer roles are among the most OPT-friendly positions in tech, with high demand from employers already familiar with F-1 work authorization. Most roles qualify as STEM OPT, giving you up to 36 months of work authorization, and many employers actively file H-1B visa petitions for strong ML candidates.
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INTRODUCTION
Consumer & Community Banking division serves our Chase customers through a range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. We're proud to lead the U.S. in credit card sales and deposit growth and have the most-used digital solutions – all while ranking first in customer satisfaction. In this role, you'll apply strong technical judgment to choose the right approaches (including modern LLM-based methods where appropriate), evaluate performance with rigorous metrics, and ensure solutions are reliable, secure, and scalable in real-world environments. You'll also contribute to improving data quality and feedback loops, monitoring models in production, and continuously iterating to reduce agent effort, shorten resolution times, and increase consistency and quality across operational workflows. As a Machine Learning Engineer-Digital intelligence in the Consumer & Community Banking division, you will be collaborating with a high-caliber team of software developers and deep learning experts, and you will specialize in large language modeling, optimization, interpretability, and related algorithms. The ideal candidate brings a strong software engineering foundation combined with hands-on, zero-to-one machine learning development experience. You will possess broad expertise in post-training machine learning models — including quality and performance optimization — alongside deep knowledge of large language models and modern deep learning techniques. Above all, you will have a demonstrated ability to operate at the intersection of research and engineering, turning promising ideas into scalable, real-world products within a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
- Research and prototype next-generation architectures for structured and unstructured data
- Develop novel pre-training objectives tailored to financial event sequences and heterogeneous profile data
- Implement research ideas in production-quality code
- Mentor engineers on ML best practices; translate research advances into deployable systems
- Optimize training throughput for large data sources
- Collaborate with other teams to design solutions for product use cases.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Master's degree with 2+ years Or Bachelor's with 4+ years in Computer Science, with training and work experience in Machine Learning, LLM/NLP or similar fields.
- Deep LLM and Transformer expertise — strong command of attention mechanisms, positional encodings such as RoPE, and the ability to handle multi-modal data inputs effectively.
- PyTorch proficiency at scale — hands-on experience with distributed training frameworks including FSDP and DeepSpeed, alongside practical memory optimization techniques.
- Foundation model training — proven experience in pre-training from scratch and designing tokens and vocabularies for complex, heterogeneous data sources including tabular, temporal, and graphical formats.
- Strong software engineering skills — ability to build robust, production-quality systems that perform reliably at scale.
- Prior experience with financial data and recommendation systems.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Publication record at top AI/ML venues.
- Experience optimizing serving infrastructure is a plus.
- Experience with post-training LLMs and network optimization algorithms, as well as interpretability or steering techniques for LLMs.
- Experience working with large-scale compute infrastructure.
- Experience shipping a real-world product, project, or feature.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding OPT Sponsorship as a Machine Learning Engineer
Target companies with active H-1B filing histories
Large tech firms and well-funded AI startups file H-1B visa petitions regularly for ML roles. Filtering by employers with consistent sponsorship track records is the most reliable way to avoid wasting applications on companies that won't convert your OPT.
Lead with your research output and production deployments
Employers sponsoring ML engineers want evidence of real impact. Published papers, Kaggle rankings, open-source contributions, and deployed models in production all signal the kind of technical depth that makes sponsorship worth the investment for a hiring manager.
Apply before your OPT start date, not after
Most ML hiring pipelines take six to twelve weeks from application to offer. Starting your search three to four months before your OPT authorization date gives employers enough runway to complete interviews and onboarding before your work authorization begins.
Clarify your STEM OPT extension eligibility upfront
ML Engineering consistently qualifies under STEM OPT CIP codes tied to computer science and data science programs. Confirming your degree program qualifies before interviews prevents late-stage confusion and reassures employers that 36 months of authorization is on the table.
Specialize in a high-demand ML subfield
Employers sponsoring visas need strong justification for the cost. Specializing in LLM fine-tuning, computer vision, or MLOps makes you a clearer candidate for roles that are genuinely hard to fill, which strengthens the business case for sponsorship.
Negotiate H-1B filing into your offer conversation early
Bringing up sponsorship after receiving an offer creates friction. Raising it naturally during late-stage interviews, once the employer is clearly interested, lets you confirm their willingness to file before you invest further time in the process.
Machine Learning Engineer OPT: Frequently Asked Questions
Do Machine Learning Engineer jobs typically qualify for STEM OPT extension?
Yes. Machine Learning Engineering falls under CIP codes tied to computer science, data science, and electrical engineering programs, all of which are on the STEM Designated Degree Program list. If your degree is in one of those fields, you're eligible to apply for the 24-month STEM OPT extension, giving you up to 36 months of total work authorization.
How do I find Machine Learning Engineer jobs where the employer is willing to sponsor OPT and H-1B?
Migrate Mate filters jobs specifically for F-1 OPT students, so the roles listed are from employers familiar with or actively open to sponsorship. Browsing ML Engineer listings on Migrate Mate saves significant time compared to filtering through general job boards where most postings don't address visa sponsorship at all.
Can I work as a Machine Learning Engineer on OPT before my STEM extension is approved?
Yes, as long as your initial 12-month OPT authorization is active and you've submitted your STEM OPT extension application before it expires. USCIS automatically extends your work authorization by up to 180 days while the extension is pending, so there's no gap in your ability to work, provided you filed on time.
What employment relationship counts as valid for STEM OPT in an ML role?
STEM OPT requires a formal employer-employee relationship, meaning your employer must provide supervision, control your work schedule, and report training outcomes through the SEVP portal. Fully independent contracting arrangements do not satisfy this requirement. Most full-time ML Engineering positions at tech companies meet the standard, but contract-to-hire roles should be reviewed with your DSO before accepting.
Do employers need to pay OPT students market rate for Machine Learning Engineer roles?
STEM OPT regulations require that employers pay OPT students the same wages and working conditions offered to similarly situated U.S. workers in the same role and location. For ML Engineering, which commands strong compensation across the industry, this protection matters. If an employer offers terms noticeably below what comparable full-time employees receive, that arrangement likely doesn't comply with STEM OPT requirements.