Senior Ceramic Shell Process Engineer – Aerospace Casting

Pratt & Whitney; Asheville (NC); On-site; USD 108,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Pratt & Whitney in Asheville, NC is seeking a Sr. Ceramic Process Manufacturing Engineer to lead shell systems development for nickel-based superalloys. This onsite role emphasizes qualification, process control, and readiness for production in a new, high-capacity foundry facility.

You will drive shell line startup, establish standardized practices, manage cost targets, and mentor teams while ensuring alignment with program requirements and quality standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Ceramic Engineering, Materials Science, or Metallurgy focused on investment casting shell systems for nickel-based superalloys.
• Minimum of 8 years of hands-on experience in aerospace investment casting of single-crystal or directionally solidified nickel superalloys.
• An Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5+ years' experience.
• Strong Project Engineering/Planning and Communication/Presentation skills are a must for this position.
• US Person Status required due to government contracts.
• Demonstrated expertise in building, qualifying, and controlling multi-layer ceramic shell systems using fused alumina and silica-free binders for reactive superalloys.
• Experience transferring shell-build processes from development labs into full-rate production environments.
• Experience with laboratory testing procedures and ceramic raw material qualification.
• Six Sigma green belt or equivalent.
• US Citizen status required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of managing technology development tasks, formulating and leading teams to achieve results, and estimating and controlling budgets.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of shell systems supporting single-crystal nickel alloys.
• Ensure shell integrity through mold preheat, prime slurry rheology control, backup coat permeability, and autoclave dewax parameters specifically tuned for SX casting.
• Collaborate with solidification engineers to ensure shell compatibility with crystallographic requirements and withdrawal profiles.
• Plan and execute new shell line start up for single crystal airfoil casting process.
• Lead development of shell line production processes, work instructions, quality and regulatory requirements, transitioning a proprietary shell line from the Hartford, CT development laboratory and installing, starting up, debugging, and launching a fully functional production shell line inside the Asheville facility.
• Develop and deploy standardized engineering practices, processes, tools, and methods.
• Implement and execute engineering changes to meet customer and financial requirements.
• Ensure MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Level) of new processes aligns to program requirements as hardware transitions from development to production during launch and subsequent volume ramp by identifying and mitigating development program manufacturing risks.
• Pursue operational excellence as subject matter expert for foundry ceramic processes; Drive product cost reduction and ensure targets are achieved through data driven process improvements and deployment of new technologies.
• Develop and Mentor others through standard work, best practices, and risk mitigation.

Skills

Project engineering

Communication

Presentation skills

Six Sigma Green Belt

Team leadership

Budgeting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Ceramic Engineering, Materials Science, or Metallurgy

Advanced degree in related field

Master’s degree in Engineering

Tools

Robotic programming

Job description

Pratt & Whitney in Asheville, NC is seeking a Sr. Ceramic Process Manufacturing Engineer to lead shell systems development for nickel-based superalloys. This onsite role emphasizes qualification, process control, and readiness for production in a new, high-capacity foundry facility.

You will drive shell line startup, establish standardized practices, manage cost targets, and mentor teams while ensuring alignment with program requirements and quality standards.