Product Quality Engineer

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Integrity .

As a Product Quality Engineer ,you will own the translation and execution of customer product quality requirements frominitialdevelopment samples through production qualification and ongoing supply. You will ensure that customer drawings, specifications, quality requirements, and acceptance criteria are clearly understood internally; that appropriate inspection and testing are completed; and that objective evidencedemonstratesproduct conformance before customer release.

Sitting within the Commercial Development team, you will serve as the primary technical quality interface between customers and Vulcan's R&D, Manufacturing, Process Quality, and Commercial teams. While Process Quality owns manufacturing process control and capability, you own whether the delivered product meets customer requirements, is supported by the required evidence, and is ready for customer qualification and release.

This role will be located at our Pilot Operations Facility in Durham, NC.

• Own customer qualification from requirements intake through customer approval, including PPAP, FAI, validation plans, customer-specific requirements, and supporting documentation.
• Build andmaintainqualification plans for each customer part, including required samples, tests, documentation, owners, dependencies, approval gates, and objective evidencerequiredfor customer approval.
• Translate customer drawings, specifications, quality manuals, and supplier requirements into defined inspection, test, acceptance, documentation, and traceability requirements; ensure they are incorporated into applicable inspection methods, production control plans, and quality procedures.
• Establish andmaintainthe authoritative record of customer product quality requirements for each part number, including drawing and specification revisions,customer-specific requirements, special characteristics, inspection and testing requirements, approved deviations, qualification status, andrequiredshipment documentation.
• Lead quality onboarding for new customers, including supplier portals, quality questionnaires, certifications, process-control evidence, and customer-specific documentation.

• Own quality execution of customer sample and qualification builds from build planning through release, ensuring required inspections, tests, and documentation are complete before shipment.
• Define inspection requirements, sampling plans, acceptance criteria, and release criteria based on customer drawings, specifications, qualification requirements, and applicable industry standards.
• Drive R&D, Manufacturing, Process Quality, Commercial, and external suppliers against qualification requirements and timelines;identify gaps and drive actionsrequiredtomaintaincustomer commitments.
• Coordinate qualification testing with internal and external labs; ensure required samples are available, review results against customer acceptance criteria, and compile customer-ready test evidence.
• Review inspection and test results against customer requirements and disposition product for release,additionalevaluation, deviation, or containment.
• Define product quality requirements for outsourced manufacturing and testing processes and verify resulting product meets requirements before customer release.

• Own customer-facing quality issues frominitialnotification through closure, including containment, product disposition, technical customer communication, corrective-action tracking, and effectiveness verification.
• Lead customer nonconformance and deviation processes, including Supplier Deviation Requests, 8D responses, CAPAs, returns, and customer-required corrective-action submissions.
• Drive containment ofsuspectproduct across WIP, finished goods, external processors, and customer shipments; ensure affected material cannotproceedwithout documented disposition.
• Partner with Process Quality, Manufacturing, and R&D todetermineroot cause and implement corrective actions; ensure actions address customer requirements and are supported by…