Digital Manufacturing Lead - SCADA, MES & Data

Vulcan Elements Inc.; North Carolina; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Vulcan Elements Inc. in Research Triangle Park, NC, seeks a Digital Manufacturing Lead to own the digital manufacturing layer—SCADA, batch execution, historian, MES, and the plant data model—for a major facility expansion.

You will lead the SCADA, MES, and data engineering team, guiding architecture and vendor engagements across pilot and full-scale production, with occasional travel. Based in Durham, NC and transitioning to Benson, NC, you will own system integration, data modeling, OEE

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics with 8+ years in industrial automation.
• Architecture-level ownership of SCADA, MES, historian, or plant data platforms.
• Hands-on depth in two or more manufacturing systems (Ignition, FactoryTalk, WinCC Unified/Opcenter, AVEVA).
• Production experience with OPC UA and MQTT/Sparkplug B; proficiency with Ethernet/IP, Profinet.
• Fluency in ISA-95 and ISA-88; strong SQL and time-series data handling.
• Demonstrated leadership of engineers and delivering results.

Responsibilities

• Own the cell/area normalization layer and plant data model; architecture, sequence, redundancy, and failure behavior.
• Allocate function between SCADA, batch execution, MES, and the data layer; define authority and screen ownership.
• Lead platform evaluations for batch, historian, SCADA, and MES integration patterns.
• Own MES thread across pilot and full-scale facility; production orders, electronic batch records, genealogy, ERP interface.
• Own the plant information model and reporting layer (OEE, downtime, yield, quality visibility).
• Lead, develop, and grow SCADA, MES, and data engineering team; serve as senior escalation point.
• Direct system integrator surge staff and vendor delivery teams; ensure ownership post-delivery.

Skills

SCADA

MES

Data engineering

Leadership

ISA-95

ISA-88

OPC UA

MQTT

Education

Bachelors or Masters in Electrical Engineering, CS, Automation, Mechatronics

Tools

Ignition

FactoryTalk

WinCC Unified

AVEVA

OPC UA

Job description

Digital Manufacturing Lead - SCADA, MES & Data

Research Triangle Park, NC

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.

The Role

As the Digital Manufacturing Lead you will own the digital manufacturing layer - SCADA, batch execution, historian, MES, and the plant data layer - for a massive 1 million square foot manufacturing facility expansion. You will lead the SCADA, MES, and data engineers who build the manufacturing stack. This is a high-impact, high-ownership architecture and leadership role, based in Durham, NC and transitioning to the Benson, NC facility as commissioning begins, with occasional travel to OEM factory acceptance tests and platform vendor engagements.

Core Expectations & Responsibilities

• Own the cell/area normalization layer that takes non-standard OEM skids and presents one consistent model of the plant to every system above it. Architecture, build sequence, redundancy, and failure behavior.
• Hold the functional allocation between SCADA, batch execution, MES, and the data layer - which system owns recipe authority, where genealogy is assembled, what belongs in the historian versus the transactional record, and what an operator does at which screen.
• Lead the remaining platform evaluations - batch execution, historian architecture, SCADA, and the MES integration pattern
• Own the MES thread across the running pilot and the larger facility implementation - production order flow, electronic batch records, material genealogy, and the ERP interface contract.
• Own the plant information model and the reporting layer built on it - OEE, downtime, yield, and quality visibility that process engineering, quality, and operations can act on without an engineer.
• Lead, develop, and grow the SCADA, MES, and data engineering team - technical direction, design review, configuration and code standards, and hiring as the plant scales. Serve as the senior escalation point for complex plant-data, SCADA, and MES issues.
• Direct system integrator surge staff and platform vendor delivery teams executing under your standards, and hold contractual knowledge-transfer criteria so the delivered system is ours to operate and modify after they leave.

Deliverables You Will Develop, Review, or Support

• Normalization layer architecture, unified namespace specification, plant information model, tag and equipment naming standards, and platform evaluation decision records.
• Control room and plant floor HMI screens, tag databases, alarm configuration, historian collection standards, MES/SCADA transaction lists, network and IP lists, password inventories, and system backups.
• ISA-95 object models, electronic batch record and genealogy structures, ERP interface specifications, database schemas, and the plant interface catalog.
• OEM data contract requirements, integration test protocols, FAT and SAT data acceptance criteria, and vendor knowledge-transfer and handover criteria.
• OEE and downtime dashboards, quality and genealogy reports, data quality monitoring, and system administration, backup, and disaster recovery procedures.

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field with 8+ years of experience across industrial automation, manufacturing systems, and plant data platforms.
• Architecture-level ownership - not configuration alone - of SCADA, MES/MOM, historian, or plant data platforms, including at least one system you designed that is still running in production.
• Hands-on depth in two or more supervisory or manufacturing systems ecosystems - Ignition, Rockwell FactoryTalk, Siemens WinCC Unified/Opcenter, AVEVA, or comparable - with the judgment to assess licensing models, redundancy architectures, and openness of data access on evidence rather than familiarity.
• Production experience with OPC UA and MQTT/Sparkplug B at architecture level - broker topology and redundancy, store-and-forward, payload and schema design and versioning - plus proficiency with Ethernet/IP, Profinet, and similar industrial communication standards.
• Working fluency in ISA-95 (production orders, material genealogy, equipment models, batch records) and ISA-88 sufficient to place a batch engine and defend the placement; strong SQL, relational data modeling, and time-series data handling.
• Demonstrated leadership of engineers - setting technical direction, developing people, and accountability for delivery you did not personally execute.

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities

Desired Skills

• Hands-on delivery with Sepasoft, FactoryTalk Batch, WinCC Unified SIQUENCE, or equivalent, and a considered view on where the batch engine belongs.
• Greenfield Scale-Up: Systems designed before the building was finished, with construction and equipment schedules setting the dates.
• Hybrid Batch and Discrete Processes: A process that moves batch to discrete and back more than once per product; materials, metals, or powder processing especially.
• Heterogeneous OEM Integration: Integrating independently sourced equipment, including machines shipped without a data path that required a gateway, network card, or vendor interface retrofit.
• Historian Architecture at Scale: Collection strategy, retention and archiving, and query performance that holds up when the plant is full.
• Experience carrying a plant through a platform migration or vendor change - you know what actually survives one.
• Familiarity with Python, SQL, or other high-level languages for automation and data analytics.
• Experience in heavy industrial, greenfield, or metallurgical manufacturing environments, or in regulated industries such as Defense, Aerospace, or Automotive.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

The position requires regular presence on the production floor and the ability to navigate all areas of the facility. Candidates must be able to climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, and work in environments that may be hot, humid, or noisy. The role also requires the use of personal protective equipment, including respirators, and adherence to all applicable safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. Employees must be able to complete required fit testing, wear appropriate PPE for the duration of assigned tasks, and respond safely to changing conditions within the production environment.

This position requires access to information and technology that is subject to US Export Control. Vulcan Elements will use this information to determine if you are eligible to receive this information under US Law.

As set forth in Vulcan Elements’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.