Head of Metalmaking & Rare Earth Processing

Mp Materials Corp.; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

MP Materials Corp. seeks a technical leader for the Manager, Metalmaking to steer development and scale-up of high-purity rare earth metal production.

You will guide electrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical technologies, modeling and experimental work to design, optimize, and scale metalmaking pathways for national strategic capabilities. The role requires deep extractive metallurgy expertise, standard-setting safety practices, and collaboration with R&D, manufacturing and partners to restore

Qualifications

• MS/PhD in Materials Science & Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years hands-on experience with molten salt electrolysis and/or metallothermic reduction processes.
• Experience managing direct reports and projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and optimization of rare earth metal and alloy production processes.
• Design and execute laboratory and pilot-scale experiments involving high-temperature reaction kinetics and thermo-physical property measurements.
• Mentor a team of engineers developing metalmaking technologies and oversee hiring, scheduling and performance evaluations.
• Provide technical guidance on thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and electrochemical behavior in rare earth metal extraction and refining.
• Oversee material characterization and electrochemical testing activities (XRD, XRF, LECO, SEM, cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy).
• Collaborate with R&D, manufacturing, and quality teams to align process development with operational goals.
• Document projects and build team knowledge of current and future rare earth research.
• Ensure safety and environmental compliance in all work.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Communication

Experiment planning

Education

MS/PhD in Materials Science & Engineering or related field

Tools

FactSage

Finite Element Analysis

CFD

Job description

MP Materials Corp. seeks a technical leader for the Manager, Metalmaking to steer development and scale-up of high-purity rare earth metal production.

You will guide electrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical technologies, modeling and experimental work to design, optimize, and scale metalmaking pathways for national strategic capabilities. The role requires deep extractive metallurgy expertise, standard-setting safety practices, and collaboration with R&D, manufacturing and partners to restore