Chief Operating Officer

P&C Recruiting | H.R.; Wyoming (OH); On-site; USD 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Job summary

P&C Recruiting | H.R. is seeking a senior mining leader to advance a domestic rare earth element (REE) company toward commercial operations.

The COO will lead a specialized team with a strong background in permitting, mining, geology, or geoscience, guiding technical strategy and investor communications. You will oversee field operations, regulatory submissions, and a demonstration-plant REE separation program, while partnering with the CEO and CFO on capital plans and investor materials.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Geology, Geoscience, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering or related earth science discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive technical and leadership experience in mining, permitting and processing disciplines.
• Experience in resource definition, geological modeling, and drill program management.
• Experience navigating mine permitting and licensing processes at federal and state level with NEPA/SMCRA/CWA/NRC knowledge.
• Proven track record leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex programs.
• Executive-level communication skills translating technical substance for investors and regulators.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical voice within executive team guiding resource narrative, investor story, and regulatory posture.
• Translate geological knowledge into operational strategy including resource risk and mine planning assumptions.
• Direct all field operations including exploration drilling and core logging with NI 43-101 / SK 1300 compliance.
• Establish operating systems, KPIs and accountability across all workstreams.
• Build and lead a multi-disciplinary team as the company scales toward production.
• Own permitting strategy and regulatory relationships across federal and state agencies.
• Provide oversight of proprietary REE separation technology program and demonstration-plant milestones.
• Develop budgets and financial projections with CEO/CFO and prepare investor materials.
• Engage with government officials, regulators, communities, and strategic partners.

Skills

Geology leadership

Mine permitting

Resource modeling

Drill program management

Executive communication

Regulatory strategy

Project leadership

Education

Geology/Geoscience degree

Job description

This is a unique leadership opportunity for a senior mining professional to play a key role in advancing a domestic rare earth element (REE) company focused on critical mineral development. The company is currently permitting its fully delineated flagship REE resource while validating proprietary separation technology at the demonstration-plant scale. The COO will leverage a strong technical foundation in permitting, mining, geology, or geoscience to lead a highly specialized team and help guide the organization toward commercial operations.

Overview

Responsibilities

Technical & Operational Leadership

• Serve as the senior technical voice within the executive team, providing geological and scientific leadership that underpins the Company's resource narrative, investor story, and regulatory posture
• Translate geological knowledge into operational strategy: resource risk, mine planning assumptions, process feed characterization, and permitting technical submissions
• Direct all field operations including exploration drilling, resource definition programs, and core logging — ensuring data quality, geological integrity, and NI 43-101 / SK 1300 compliance
• Establish and maintain operating systems, KPIs, and accountability structures across all active workstreams
• Build and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary team; recruit key technical and operational talent as the Company scales toward production

Permitting & Regulatory Strategy

• Own the Company's permitting strategy and regulatory relationships across federal and state agencies (e.g., USDA/USFS, EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, NRC/Wyoming DEQ, as well as other state Federal and state regulatory bodies)
• Leverage deep technical understanding of the resource to strengthen the quality and defensibility of permitting submissions — baseline studies, geochemical characterization, mine closure plans, and environmental and radiological impact assessments
• Manage external consultants and government and community relations advisors with precision and accountability in support of permitting and regulatory processes
• Identify and mitigate regulatory risk proactively; maintain permitting timelines that align with the Company's capital and development plan

Proprietary Separation Technology — Demonstration Plant Oversight

• Provide executive oversight of the proprietary REE separation technology program, ensuring demonstration-plant milestones are achieved on schedule and within budget
• Apply technical acumen to evaluate process design criteria, feed and waste stream characterization data, and scale-up assumptions
• Collaborate with the process engineering team to develop a commercially validated flowsheet and support the transition from demonstration to commercial-scale design
• Manage IP protection, vendor relationships, and strategic partnerships associated with the separation process

Capital Stewardship & Financial Partnership

• Own the operational budget; develop detailed project cost models and forecasts in support of ongoing capital-raise activities
• Partner with the CEO and CFO to produce investor materials, Board reporting, and financial projections grounded in rigorous technical assumptions
• Drive capital allocation discipline across workstreams, ensuring resources are deployed to the highest-value activities at each stage of development

Board, Investor & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary technical authority in investor presentations, data rooms, and due-diligence processes — bridging the gap between geological reality and capital-market communication
• Represent the Company with government officials, regulatory bodies, indigenous and local communities, and strategic partners

General & Administrative

• Participate actively in Board-level strategic discussions and governance from the outset
• Develop enterprise-wide fluency across commercial, financial, legal, and human capital functions to complement the company’s technical foundation

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Geology, Geoscience, Mining Engineering, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering or a closely related earth science discipline
• 15+ years of progressive technical and leadership experience in the mining, permitting and processing disciplines
• Demonstrated expertise in resource definition, geological modeling, and drill program management — ideally with rare earth, critical mineral, or specialty metal projects
• Hands-on experience navigating mine permitting and licensing processes at the federal and state level, with working knowledge of NEPA, SMCRA, CWA, NRC, State Departments of Environmental Quality and/or equivalent frameworks
• A track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs
• Executive-level communication skills — the ability to translate technical substance into investor, regulator, and Board-level language with precision and confidence

Preferred

• Direct experience with REE mineralogy, metallurgy, processing and radiological controls — including familiarity with monazite, bastnäsite, xenotime, or ionic clay deposit types
• Prior P&L ownership or experience operating at the C-suite or VP level in a junior or pre-production mining company
• Exposure to demonstration-plant operations and process scale-up programs
• Advanced degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) in a geoscience or technical discipline; an MBA or executive leadership credential is complementary
• Existing relationships with federal and state permitting agencies relevant to Western U.S. mining projects
• Eligibility to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101 and SK 1300

Leadership Attributes

Beyond Credentials, The Successful Candidate Will Bring

• Geological authority with executive reach: the ability to command a room of investors and a room of drill geologists with equal effectiveness
• Builder's instinct: comfort and energy in environments where process, infrastructure, and culture must be created from the ground up
• Transparent character: the reputation among peers, regulators, and capital partners for dealing straight, even when the news is hard
• Strategic discipline: the capacity to hold the long-term development thesis steady while managing short-term operational complexity