Pilot Plant Manager - High-Temp Metals, Equity

Solcoa Industries; Alameda (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity

Job summary

Solcoa Industries in Alameda, CA is commissioning a new 24/7 pilot production line and seeks a Production Lead to own it end-to-end. You will run daily operations, manage safety, yield, uptime, and material flow, and report to the founders.

You will build the operator team, implement maintenance programs, track mass balance and inventory, and collaborate with engineering to scale the plant while ensuring safe, compliant operations.

Qualifications

• Degree in metallurgical, chemical, materials, or mechanical engineering (or equivalent hands-on depth).
• 5+ years in production operations at high-temperature metals or chemicals plant.
• Experience supervising hourly operators (hiring, training, scheduling, performance management).
• Track record of owning production metrics (yield, recovery, OEE, downtime).
• Hands-on maintenance fluency: read a P&ID, troubleshoot with a millwright, and know when to call the vendor.
• Comfortable in a startup environment with evolving SOPs and equipment commissioning.

Responsibilities

• Own production: Plan and execute production campaigns. Run daily operations of the pilot line, including furnace operations, casting, and downstream handling.
• Track and improve yield: Own the mass balance, track yield and recovery by campaign, identify loss mechanisms, drive corrective actions.
• Own maintenance: Build and run preventive maintenance, track equipment condition, schedule and direct maintenance, manage spares, minimize downtime.
• Build the operator team: Screen, interview, hire operators, develop training programs, SOPs, checklists, sign-offs.
• Manage the schedule: Own operator shift scheduling and coverage.
• Track feedstock and inventory: Manage receipt, storage, staging, consumption; maintain inventory and reorder points.
• Own safety on the floor: Enforce safe work around molten metal and high-temp furnaces; lead incident investigation and compliance.
• Close the loop with engineering: Log run data, flag deviations, feed learnings back into process development.

Skills

Leadership

Operations management

Troubleshooting

Safety awareness

Team development

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

P&ID reading

Maintenance scheduling

Equipment troubleshooting

Job description

Solcoa Industries in Alameda, CA is commissioning a new 24/7 pilot production line and seeks a Production Lead to own it end-to-end. You will run daily operations, manage safety, yield, uptime, and material flow, and report to the founders.

You will build the operator team, implement maintenance programs, track mass balance and inventory, and collaborate with engineering to scale the plant while ensuring safe, compliant operations.