Manufacturing 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 Transparency.

As a Manufacturing Engineer, you will contribute to the full lifecycle of a massive 1 million square foot manufacturing facility expansion—from design and equipment specification through installation, commissioning, production startup, and scale-up to full capacity. You willbe responsible fora process step, translating pilot-line processes into full-scale, stable, and repeatable production systems. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role requiring deep technicalexpertiseand leadership.

This role begins in Durham, NC and is expected to move to Benson, NC upon completion of new facility.

• Lead the evaluation, quote comparison, and selection of advanced manufacturing technologies and vendors. You willown the technical and financial side-by-side comparisons to ensure selected machinery meets our aggressive scaling and quality goals.
• Own equipment design/requirements, vendor performance and schedule, commissioning activities, process development, and production qualification for a major heavy production process (alloy production, casting, jet milling, powder production, pressing, and sintering operations).
• Develop andoptimizemanufacturing processes to improve throughput, quality, and equipment reliability. Monitor OEE results and station cycle times to drive yield and capacity improvements.
• Manage technical schedules, budgets, and deliverables aligned with company milestones and customer commitments.
• Provide hands-on support during production startup, helping stabilize processes andeliminateearly bottlenecks.
• Develop and innovate new processes and equipment strategies (collaborating with R&D) to implement in future production lines, pushing Vulcan to achieve best-in-class magnet manufacturing.
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and quality standards across all process activities.
• This position will require some interaction and travel to support equipment development reviews and Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs) as needed (estimated at