About the job
About Mariana Minerals
Mariana Minerals is a pioneering software-driven, vertically integrated minerals company dedicated to supplying the essential minerals that fuel modern energy, artificial intelligence, and defense technologies. We are transforming the minerals supply chain by leveraging extensive industry knowledge alongside cutting-edge software, automation, and data-centric decision-making.
The Role
As we build the critical minerals supply chain from the ground up, we seek a highly skilled Senior Machine Learning Engineer to help drive our autonomous operations.
Unlike traditional software companies, we are a mining company that develops our own software solutions. Mariana designs, builds, commissions, and operates our own mines and refineries, where we create proprietary chemical processes. Currently, we are producing battery-grade lithium salts from real oil and gas wastewater at our facilities. Our first commercial-scale lithium production facility, Lithium One, is set to commence initial production in the first half of 2027.
In your role as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you will spearhead the design and implementation of machine learning systems that directly optimize the operations of our mineral refining facilities and guide significant investment and operational decisions. Your contributions will be visible in tangible metrics such as recovery rates, energy consumption, reagent usage, and equipment uptime.
The Tech
This position involves some of the most compelling applied AI work available today.
Our internal platform, PlantOS, utilizes the same reinforcement learning frameworks that power self-driving cars and humanoid robots, adapted for the autonomous and short-interval control of mineral refining circuits. Our models dynamically adjust operating parameters in real time, optimizing for lithium recovery, reagent consumption, energy efficiency, and equipment uptime simultaneously.
The working environment is complex and ever-changing; variations in wastewater compositions, ore grades, and aging equipment require the system to adapt continuously. The ultimate objective is to achieve fully autonomous refining operations—when you implement your solutions here, you will witness the physics of the process evolve.
What You’ll Do
Collaborate closely with Mariana’s process chemistry and engineering teams to develop innovative, data-driven models of core chemical unit operations.
Train and deploy reinforcement learning models to optimize operational processes.

