Engineering Director Visa Sponsorship Jobs in Minnesota
Engineering director roles in Minnesota draw visa sponsorship from major employers across the Twin Cities metro, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, Medtronic, and 3M. Minneapolis and Saint Paul concentrate the bulk of opportunities, particularly in healthtech, medical devices, retail technology, and enterprise software, making Minnesota a genuine destination for senior engineering leadership candidates seeking U.S. work authorization.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
As Director, AI/ML Engineering - AI-Ready Data and Context Platforms, you will lead the strategy, architecture, and delivery of the enterprise context layer required to support generative AI and agentic workflows. This role will make enterprise data AI-ready by building semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, metadata capabilities, and reusable contextual data products.
You will partner with AI, data, product, architecture, governance, and business teams to ensure AI agents can access trusted, relevant, secure, and understandable information. The role will also lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and establish standards for context engineering, semantic interoperability, data quality, governance, and AI grounding.
You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Lead and direct teams of AI/ML engineers in designing, building, and delivering enterprise-scale machine learning systems and intelligent platforms
- Partner with senior technology, data, analytics, product, and business leaders to embed semantic and contextual foundations into the broader enterprise AI strategy
- Define and own the enterprise strategy and roadmap for AI-ready data, semantic architecture, knowledge graphs, and contextual data platforms
- Establish a clear architectural vision for the enterprise context layer that supports generative AI applications, intelligent search, decision-support systems, and agentic workflows
- Identify the semantic, contextual, and data-quality capabilities required for AI agents to accurately understand business entities, relationships, processes, policies, terminology, and constraints
- Translate enterprise AI priorities into a sequenced portfolio of foundational data, metadata, ontology, and knowledge-graph capabilities
- Use enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement
- Evaluate emerging trends to inform solution design, platform scalability, and strategic technical innovation
- Mentor and cultivate technical leaders and engineering talent to ensure continuous technical growth and team capability
You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, data engineering, data architecture, knowledge engineering, or semantic technologies
- 5+ years of experience leading technical teams, influencing senior stakeholders, and translating business needs into platform capabilities
- 5+ years of experience leading enterprise-scale data, AI, or knowledge-platform initiatives
- 3+ years of experience designing semantic models, ontologies, taxonomies, or knowledge graphs
- 3+ years of experience integrating structured and unstructured data into scalable AI-ready platforms
- Demonstrated understanding of data products, metadata, lineage, data quality, governance, and access controls
- Demonstrated understanding of generative AI, large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, vector search, and agentic AI workflows
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Master's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Information Science, or a related field
- Experience implementing enterprise knowledge graphs, semantic layers, or ontology-management platforms
- Experience with hybrid retrieval approaches combining graph, vector, keyword, metadata, and structured-data search
- Experience in a regulated industry or an environment with complex security, privacy, and compliance requirements
- Familiarity with semantic technologies and standards such as RDF, OWL, SHACL, SKOS, SPARQL, or JSON-LD
- Knowledge of GraphRAG, agent memory, context management, model context protocols, and AI tool-integration patterns
All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.
COMPENSATION
- Salary Range: $176,700 - $302,900 annually based on full-time employment
Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.
INTRODUCTION
Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us in making healthcare work better for everyone through people-led, responsible AI while Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
As Director, AI/ML Engineering - AI-Ready Data and Context Platforms, you will lead the strategy, architecture, and delivery of the enterprise context layer required to support generative AI and agentic workflows. This role will make enterprise data AI-ready by building semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, metadata capabilities, and reusable contextual data products.
You will partner with AI, data, product, architecture, governance, and business teams to ensure AI agents can access trusted, relevant, secure, and understandable information. The role will also lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and establish standards for context engineering, semantic interoperability, data quality, governance, and AI grounding.
You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Lead and direct teams of AI/ML engineers in designing, building, and delivering enterprise-scale machine learning systems and intelligent platforms
- Partner with senior technology, data, analytics, product, and business leaders to embed semantic and contextual foundations into the broader enterprise AI strategy
- Define and own the enterprise strategy and roadmap for AI-ready data, semantic architecture, knowledge graphs, and contextual data platforms
- Establish a clear architectural vision for the enterprise context layer that supports generative AI applications, intelligent search, decision-support systems, and agentic workflows
- Identify the semantic, contextual, and data-quality capabilities required for AI agents to accurately understand business entities, relationships, processes, policies, terminology, and constraints
- Translate enterprise AI priorities into a sequenced portfolio of foundational data, metadata, ontology, and knowledge-graph capabilities
- Use enterprise-approved AI tools to streamline workflows, automate tasks, and drive continuous improvement
- Evaluate emerging trends to inform solution design, platform scalability, and strategic technical innovation
- Mentor and cultivate technical leaders and engineering talent to ensure continuous technical growth and team capability
You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, data engineering, data architecture, knowledge engineering, or semantic technologies
- 5+ years of experience leading technical teams, influencing senior stakeholders, and translating business needs into platform capabilities
- 5+ years of experience leading enterprise-scale data, AI, or knowledge-platform initiatives
- 3+ years of experience designing semantic models, ontologies, taxonomies, or knowledge graphs
- 3+ years of experience integrating structured and unstructured data into scalable AI-ready platforms
- Demonstrated understanding of data products, metadata, lineage, data quality, governance, and access controls
- Demonstrated understanding of generative AI, large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, vector search, and agentic AI workflows
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Master's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Information Science, or a related field
- Experience implementing enterprise knowledge graphs, semantic layers, or ontology-management platforms
- Experience with hybrid retrieval approaches combining graph, vector, keyword, metadata, and structured-data search
- Experience in a regulated industry or an environment with complex security, privacy, and compliance requirements
- Familiarity with semantic technologies and standards such as RDF, OWL, SHACL, SKOS, SPARQL, or JSON-LD
- Knowledge of GraphRAG, agent memory, context management, model context protocols, and AI tool-integration patterns
All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy.
COMPENSATION
- Salary Range: $176,700 - $302,900 annually based on full-time employment
Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare by harnessing technology and innovation to make care simpler to navigate, more affordable and more connected for the people we serve. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued, heard and respected, empowering people to bring their authentic selves to work and strengthening our collective impact through diverse talents, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.
UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated brands are a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.
Engineering Director Job Roles in Minnesota
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Search Engineering Director Jobs in MinnesotaEngineering Director Jobs in Minnesota: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies sponsor visas for engineering directors in Minnesota?
Minnesota's largest sponsors of senior engineering roles include UnitedHealth Group, Medtronic, Target, 3M, General Mills, and Optum. Mid-size technology firms and medical device companies in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro also file sponsorships for director-level positions. Because engineering director roles require demonstrated leadership and a qualifying specialty degree, sponsoring employers are typically established organizations with dedicated immigration support.
What visa types are most common for engineering director roles in Minnesota?
The H-1B visa is the most common visa category for engineering directors in Minnesota, as the role typically qualifies as a specialty occupation requiring at least a bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field. Candidates with extraordinary achievement may pursue the O-1A. Multinational company employees transferring into director roles at a U.S. affiliate may qualify for the L-1A, which covers managerial and executive transfers.
Which cities in Minnesota have the most engineering director sponsorship jobs?
Minneapolis and Saint Paul account for the majority of engineering director sponsorship activity in Minnesota. Specific submarkets worth targeting include the I-394 corridor in suburban Minnetonka and Plymouth, where Medtronic and several healthtech firms are headquartered, and the downtown Minneapolis core where Target, Optum, and financial technology companies are concentrated. Rochester, home to IBM and Mayo Clinic, also produces director-level engineering openings with some regularity.
How to find engineering director visa sponsorship jobs in Minnesota?
Migrate Mate filters job listings specifically for roles where employers have a documented history of visa sponsorship, which is particularly useful at the engineering director level where sponsorship willingness varies significantly between companies. Searching Migrate Mate for engineering director positions in Minnesota surfaces opportunities at Twin Cities employers in healthtech, medical devices, and enterprise software, saving time compared to manually screening general job listings for sponsorship eligibility.
Are there any Minnesota-specific considerations for engineering director visa sponsorship candidates?
Minnesota's prevailing wage requirements under the H-1B Labor Condition Application reflect the Twin Cities cost of labor, which tends to be set at Level III or Level IV for director-level engineering roles, meaning employers must certify that compensation meets the Department of Labor's wage determinations for the occupation and geography. Minnesota also has a strong university pipeline through the University of Minnesota, which produces engineering graduates who may already hold OPT or STEM OPT authorization when targeting their first director-level opportunity.
What is the prevailing wage for sponsored engineering director jobs in Minnesota?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.