Optical Application Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job Description:

Application Engineer - High-Speed Interconnects (Copper and Optical Fiber)

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it's equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

The Impact You'll Make in this Role

As aCustomer Facing Application Engineer - High-Speed Interconnects, you will have the opportunity to apply your technical expertise and customer engagement skills to support innovative interconnect solutions across data center, networking, and other high-performance connectivity applications. In this role, you will make an impact by:

• Serving as a technical interface between 3M and customers forhigh-speed interconnect solutions, including bothcopper and optical fiber, with a primary emphasis onoptical fiber technologies

• Supporting customer design-in activities forfiber optic connectivity, optical transport, and high-speed communication systems

• Providing technical consultation to customers, sales teams, and channel partners on product selection, application fit, system integration, and performance optimization

• Driving adoption of 3M interconnect solutions by understanding customer architectures, technical requirements, and next-generation roadmap needs

• Collaborating with product development, R&D, manufacturing, quality, and marketing teams to communicate customer needs and influence future product direction

• Leading technical discussions, product demonstrations, evaluations, and troubleshooting efforts for customer applications involving optical and copper interconnects

• Supporting qualification activities by developing test plans, analyzing results, and ensuring customer requirements are met with validated data

• Assisting customers in resolving field and application issues through hands-on technical problem-solving and cross-functional coordination

• Contributing to technical documentation, application notes, customer presentations, and training materials to support product deployment and market adoption

• Monitoring industry trends, competitive technologies, and emerging standards inoptical fiber interconnects, copper connectivity, and high-speed data communication

• Ensuring technical claims in customer-facing literature and communications are accurate, well-supported, and aligned with product performance

Company Vehicle

This position requires driving a company vehicle, which will require pre-employment and ongoing review of motor vehicle history for candidates who are offered and hired for this position

Your Skills and Expertise

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start) from an accredited institution

• Three (3) years of experience in a customer-facing technical, applications engineering, systems engineering, or product support role in a private, public, government, or military environment

• Two (2) years of experience withhigh-speed interconnect technologies, includingoptical fiber and/or copper connectivity solutions

• Current, valid Driver's License.

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:

• Master's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field from an accredited institution

• Five (5) or more years of experience infiber optics for communications systems

• Strong knowledge ofoptical fiber interconnects, transceiver connectivity, cable assemblies, and data center optical infrastructure

• Experience withcopper interconnectsfor high-speed communication systems

• Familiarity withdata center systems architecture, networking, AI infrastructure, and high-performance computing environments

• Experience interpreting industry standards, qualification requirements, and test methods related to fiber optic and electrical interconnect components

• Experience with laboratory test equipment and performance characterization of optical or electrical interconnect systems

• Ability to analyze customer requirements and translate them into application guidance and product recommendations

• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills in customer and field environments

• Experience developing and delivering technical presentations to customers, internal stakeholders, and external partners

• Strong communication skills, including oral, written, and presentation skills

• Ability to work effectively across global, cross-functional teams

Work location:

• Remote - Chicago or Midwest area

Travel: May include up to 15% domestic/international

Relocation Assistance: May be authorized

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Supporting Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life - both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $145,676 - $178,049, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/.Good Faith Posting Date Range 06/29/2026 To 07/29/2026 Or until filledAll US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.Learn more about 3M's creative solutions to the world's problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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