Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Mariana Minerals · Houston, TX
- On site
- Full-time
- $190,000 / year
- Houston, TX
Job highlights
- Lead ML systems for autonomous mineral refining.
- Develop and deploy reinforcement learning models.
- Work with process engineers and chemists.
- Shape critical mineral production at scale.
- Join mission-driven, ownership-focused team.
About the role
About Mariana Minerals
Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
The Role
Mariana Minerals is building the critical minerals supply chain from the ground up—and we’re looking for a Senior+ Machine Learning Engineer to help make it autonomous. We’re not a software company selling tools to mining operators. We are a mining company that builds software. Mariana designs, builds, commissions, and operates our own mines and refineries. We develop proprietary chemical processes and run them at lab, pilot, and commercial scale. Today, we’re producing battery-grade lithium salts from real oil and gas wastewater in our facilities. Our first commercial-scale lithium production facility, Lithium One, is targeting initial production in the first half of 2027.
As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Mariana, you’ll lead the development and deployment of machine learning systems that directly control the operation of our mineral refining facilities and inform major investment and operational decisions. Your work won’t live behind dashboards or proxy metrics—you’ll see its impact in real recovery rates, energy consumption, reagent usage, and uptime on operating plants.
The Tech
This is some of the most interesting applied AI work happening today. Our internal platform, PlantOS, uses the same reinforcement learning toolkits that power self-driving vehicles and humanoid robots—but applied to autonomous, short-interval control of mineral refining circuits. Models adjust operating set points and configurations in real time, optimizing across lithium recovery, reagent consumption, energy intensity, and equipment uptime simultaneously. The environment is noisy and non-stationary: wastewater compositions shift, ore grades change, equipment ages. The system must continuously adapt. The end goal is fully autonomous refining operations. When you ship here, you can literally watch the physics change.
What You’ll Do
- Partner closely with Mariana’s process chemistry and engineering teams to develop novel, data-driven models of core chemical unit operations.
- Train and deploy reinforcement learning models to control real-world mineral processing operations.
- Use physically realistic simulators to pretrain RL control algorithms, and work with subject matter experts to diagnose gaps between simulated and real-world performance.
- Build and maintain techno-economic models that integrate process simulation with capital costs, operating costs, and commodity price scenarios to inform investment and operational strategy.
- Collaborate with internal teams on sensor and instrumentation strategy, incorporating inline measurement data to improve model performance.
- Help design and evolve Mariana’s data architecture, including pipelines for training, validation, deployment, and monitoring of production ML systems.
Desired Qualifications
- 4+ years of post-school experience in machine learning engineering or a closely related role.
- Strong grounding in machine learning fundamentals, with the ability to translate research ideas into novel production systems.
- Experience with techno-economic modeling, process simulation, and/or quantitative analysis in complex systems.
- Proven ability to develop, deploy, and operate ML models in production environments.
- A self-starter mindset and comfort operating in high-ambiguity environments. You’ll work directly with chemical engineers, metallurgists, process engineers, and geologists—experts who understand the physics deeply and will challenge assumptions.
- Ability to work across the ML stack, from data pipelines to model inference and monitoring, or deep expertise in one area with a desire to grow across the stack.
Why This Role
We own the projects, generate the data, and close the loop. Every facility we build makes the software smarter—and the next facility faster and cheaper. Mining is one of the last major industrial sectors that hasn’t been rebuilt with modern software. The opportunity here isn’t a feature gap—it’s entire workflows and systems that don’t exist yet. Your work will directly shape how critical minerals are produced at scale in the coming decades.
Why Join Us?
At Mariana Minerals, you’ll be part of a mission-driven team reshaping the way critical minerals are sourced and supplied globally. You’ll have the autonomy to make big decisions, the tools to innovate, and a culture that values ownership, smart automation, and collaboration.
Our culture is built on three principles:
- Extreme Ownership – We take full responsibility for outcomes, relentlessly driving toward solutions.
- Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate – We simplify, optimize, and then automate for scale.
- Share Your Legos – We collaborate openly, share knowledge, and empower each other to build bigger, better solutions.
Join us as we build the future of responsible mineral sourcing and supply. Mariana is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.
Key skills/competency
- Machine Learning Engineering
- Reinforcement Learning
- Python
- Data Architecture
- Process Control
- Techno-economic Modeling
- Production ML Systems
- Quantitative Analysis
- Software Development
- AI
Skills & topics
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Artificial Intelligence
- Reinforcement Learning
- Python
- Data Science
- Software Engineering
- Process Control
- Mining Technology
- Automation
- Data Architecture
How to get hired
- Customize your resume: Highlight ML engineering, reinforcement learning, and production deployment experience relevant to Mariana Minerals' unique mining software focus.
- Tailor your application: Emphasize your ability to work in high-ambiguity environments and collaborate with subject matter experts in process chemistry and engineering.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss your experience with ML fundamentals, techno-economic modeling, and operating models in production.
- Showcase your problem-solving skills: Demonstrate your self-starter mindset and how you engineer solutions and automate processes, aligning with Mariana's culture.
- Research Mariana's mission: Understand their goal of building software-first, vertically integrated mineral supply chains to power modern technologies.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary focus of the Senior Machine Learning Engineer role at Mariana Minerals?
- The Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Mariana Minerals will lead the development and deployment of ML systems to autonomously control mineral refining facilities and inform operational decisions. This involves applying reinforcement learning to optimize recovery rates, energy consumption, and uptime in a real-world industrial setting.
- What kind of ML techniques are used at Mariana Minerals?
- Mariana Minerals utilizes reinforcement learning toolkits, similar to those used in self-driving vehicles and robotics, for the autonomous, short-interval control of mineral refining circuits. Models are designed to continuously adapt to noisy and non-stationary environments.
- What is the expected experience level for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Mariana Minerals?
- The role requires at least 4 years of post-school experience in machine learning engineering or a related field, with a strong grounding in ML fundamentals and proven ability to deploy and operate models in production.
- How does Mariana Minerals differ from a typical software company?
- Unlike software companies selling tools to operators, Mariana Minerals is a mining company that builds its own software. They design, build, and operate their mines and refineries, integrating deep industry expertise with advanced software and automation.
- What are the key cultural principles at Mariana Minerals?
- Mariana Minerals' culture is built on three principles: Extreme Ownership (taking full responsibility for outcomes), Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate (simplifying, optimizing, and automating for scale), and Share Your Legos (collaborating openly and sharing knowledge).
- What kind of impact can a Senior Machine Learning Engineer expect to have at Mariana Minerals?
- The impact is direct and tangible. ML models will control real-world operations, influencing recovery rates, energy consumption, and reagent usage. The work directly shapes how critical minerals are produced at scale for decades to come.
- What kind of technical challenges will a Senior Machine Learning Engineer face?
- Challenges include dealing with noisy and non-stationary environments where wastewater compositions and ore grades shift, and equipment ages. Models must continuously adapt to ensure optimal performance in real-time mineral processing operations.
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