Engineering Lead, Process Equipment & Custom Hardware

American Advanced Materials; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Vision coverage

Dental coverage

401(k)

Equity compensation

Flexible PTO

Job summary

American Advanced Materials is seeking a hands-on engineering leader to own design, fabrication, and integration of equipment across our titanium and zirconium facilities. This role will drive buy-vs-build decisions, develop custom hardware (Kroll reactors, vacuum distillation units, chlorinators), and ensure manufacturability, scalability, and performance.

You will bridge process engineering with manufacturing, lead rapid prototyping, and oversee vendor evaluations and project deployment from

Qualifications

• Proven success in solving engineering challenges that require complex build vs. buy decisions for which there is no existing commodity hardware
• Proven success in designing, building, and testing fluid‑handling systems with challenging temperatures and pressures
• Proven success in leading engineering teams, ideally in equipment/hardware manufacture
• Expertise in materials selection and evaluation, ideally with field experience with high‑performance and low‑corrosion alloys
• Familiarity with advanced manufacturing techniques, CNC machining, and welding of exotic alloys
• Extensive experience with DFM, rapid prototyping, and working with suppliers to fabricate custom components
• Experience in pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy or chemical/oil & gas systems is a plus
• Experience with very large‑scale components (think 30ft tall distillation columns or large cryogenic tanks) is a plus
• Experience with reactive metals is a plus

Responsibilities

• Make buy vs. build decisions with process & facilities engineering
• Lead the design and development of all custom process hardware
• Evaluate equipment and process technologies with vendors and integrate into plant design
• Conduct DFM reviews and iterates to reduce lead times and costs
• Oversee fabrication and assembly of hardware to meet specs and timelines
• Lead prototyping and testing to optimize performance and reliability
• Develop and execute test plans for hardware validation
• Ensure seamless integration of hardware into plant layout and process flow
• Oversee installation, commissioning, and troubleshooting during pilot and production phases
• Design modular, scalable hardware for rapid replication as the facility expands
• Identify opportunities to improve hardware performance and reduce costs

Skills

Decision making

Leadership

DFM

Materials selection

Vendor evaluation

Tools

Kroll reactors

Vacuum distillation

CNC machining

Welding exotic alloys

Job description

American Advanced Materials is seeking a hands-on engineering leader to own design, fabrication, and integration of equipment across our titanium and zirconium facilities. This role will drive buy-vs-build decisions, develop custom hardware (Kroll reactors, vacuum distillation units, chlorinators), and ensure manufacturability, scalability, and performance.

You will bridge process engineering with manufacturing, lead rapid prototyping, and oversee vendor evaluations and project deployment from