Director of Pilot Plant Engineering - Rare Earth Scale-Up

Phoenix-Tailings; Burlington (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare: 100% medical, dental, and视

Job summary

Phoenix Tailings is seeking a Director of Pilot Plant Engineering in Burlington to lead pilot-scale separation and metallization programs, translating pilot results into production requirements. You will manage timelines, resources, and documentation while driving scalable processes between R&D and Manufacturing.

The role requires 8+ years in pilot engineering, strong leadership, and a track record of delivering complex scale-up projects in a fast-moving environment. Equity opportunities offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical/Mechanical/Metallurgical Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years in pilot plant engineering, process development, scale-up, or similar industrial environment.
• Experience leading pilot, demonstration, scale-up projects from planning through execution.
• Strong project management across schedules, priorities, resources, and risks.
• Experience working with complex process equipment and technology transfer.
• Proven ability to coordinate technical teams across R&D, engineering, manufacturing, and operations.
• Leadership and communication skills to build teams and drive execution in fast-moving environments.
• Experience in rare earths, chemical separations, or metals processing preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead pilot-scale engineering programs from early development through production handoff.
• Establish plans, schedules, milestones, and resources for pilot initiatives.
• Coordinate across R&D, engineering, operations, manufacturing, vendors and partners.
• Systematize pilot plant operations with procedures, data collection, and maintenance standards.
• Oversee design, modification, commissioning, and improvement of pilot equipment.
• Plan pilot campaigns to inform scale-up and commercialization decisions.
• Identify risks and gaps, driving timely solutions to keep programs on track.
• Translate results into engineering recommendations for manufacturing and capital projects.
• Build and develop a high-performing pilot engineering team.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical/Mechanical/Metallurgical Engineering or related field

Job description

Phoenix Tailings is seeking a Director of Pilot Plant Engineering in Burlington to lead pilot-scale separation and metallization programs, translating pilot results into production requirements. You will manage timelines, resources, and documentation while driving scalable processes between R&D and Manufacturing.

The role requires 8+ years in pilot engineering, strong leadership, and a track record of delivering complex scale-up projects in a fast-moving environment. Equity opportunities offered.