Senior Design Engineer

International Search Partners; New Hampshire; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Equity grant (ownership)

Full medical, dental, retirement and 4

Relocation assistance

Job summary

International Search Partners seeks an Engineering Leader to own end‑to‑end system development for vacuum furnaces and related equipment. The role oversees concept through commissioning, driving design reviews, FMEAs, and safety analyses while coordinating with the customer and vendors from the New Hampshire site.

You will shape the roadmap with founders for next‑generation vacuum casting and atomization systems, build and mentor an engineering team, and manage two sites as the company scales.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, materials, metallurgical or related engineering discipline; advanced degree a plus.
• 10+ years designing and building vacuum furnaces or vacuum melting systems at an OEM or equivalent facility.
• Deep knowledge of vacuum systems, high‑temperature hot‑zone design, induction/resistance heating, water cooling, and vacuum vessel design.
• Hands‑on track record building, troubleshooting and commissioning equipment.
• U.S. citizenship and willingness to relocate to southern New Hampshire with onboarding.
• Experience in large OEM environments with mature engineering processes and cost roll‑ups.

Responsibilities

• Be the technical front line: handle customer calls, negotiate specs, lead design reviews, and perform safety analyses.
• Standardize repeat one-offs into configurable product lines with proper documentation and cost roll‑ups.
• Develop aftermarket offerings: spares, service plans, and a field-service program; build a team.
• Lead and mentor engineers and technicians at two sites, setting design/documentation standards.
• Collaborate on the roadmap with founders: larger furnaces, multi‑chamber concepts, and atomizers.
• Assist in standing up the New Hampshire site with layout, utilities, and staffing.

Skills

Mechanical design

Vacuum systems

Project leadership

Controls integration

Hands-on fabrication

Mentoring engineers

Equity mindset

Citizenship

Customer communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical/metallurgical engineering

Advanced degree a plus

Tools

PLM/ERP familiarity

ECOs and change control

Welding/fabrication tooling

Job description

This role owns systems end to end. From concept and process definition through thermal and mechanical design, costing and proposal support, detailed design of chambers, hot zones, induction and resistance heating, vacuum and gas trains, water cooling and material handling, BOMs and drawings, long-lead purchasing (power supplies, vacuum pumps), assembly, test and factory acceptance, installation, commissioning and startup on the customer’s floor.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities:

• Be the technical front line. Take the first customer call and give a credible answer. Negotiate specifications, run design reviews, lead FMEAs and safety analyses for reactive metals, hydrogen and metal vapors (including who owns working-pressure definitions), scope and bill engineering studies, and handle service and troubleshooting calls on the installed base.
• Standardize what should be standard. Turn repeat one-offs into configurable product lines (VIM, strip caster, atomizer, distillation furnace) with documentation, change control and cost roll-ups, bringing the process discipline of a larger OEM without losing the Company’s nimbleness.
• Build the aftermarket. Create the spares, service-plan and field-service program the installed base is already asking for, and stand up a small service team during 2027.
• Lead and grow the team. Hire, mentor and direct engineers, designers and technicians at both sites, set the standards for design and documentation, and be in the shop when the build needs you.
• Shape the next generation. Work with the founders on the roadmap: production-scale VIM and strip casters for rare‑earth metallization and magnet alloys, larger distillation and reaction furnaces, multi‑chamber casting concepts for directionally solidified turbine airfoils, a standardized atomizer line and resistance‑heated vacuum furnaces for magnet‑material processing.
• Help stand up the New Hampshire cell. Layout, utilities, equipment and staffing for the new engineering and production site.

Necessary Experience & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, materials, metallurgical or a related engineering discipline; an advanced degree is a plus.
• Typically ten or more years designing and building vacuum furnaces or vacuum melting, casting or atomization equipment at a furnace OEM, a melt shop or an equivalent facility, including full ownership of custom systems from concept through commissioning.
• Depth in vacuum systems (pumping, sealing, leak detection), high‑temperature hot‑zone design, induction and resistance heating and their power supplies, water cooling, inert and controlled atmospheres, vacuum‑vessel design (ASME familiarity) and welded stainless fabrication for vacuum service.
• Working familiarity with reactive, refractory and rare‑earth metals (titanium, zirconium, niobium, tantalum, tungsten, molybdenum, NdFeB alloys) and the safety discipline they demand.
• A hands‑on record: builds, troubleshoots and commissions equipment personally, and is as credible with welders and technicians as with a customer’s engineers.
• U.S. citizenship (defense‑rated and export‑controlled work) and willingness to be based in southern New Hampshire, with substantial time at the existing plant during onboarding. Relocation assistance is provided. Strongly preferred
• Experience inside a larger OEM with mature engineering process (design reviews, ECOs, PLM or ERP, cost roll‑ups) and the judgment to apply it lightly in a small company.
• Controls literacy (PLC and HMI, power‑supply integration) and the ability to partner with a controls engineer.
• Direct exposure to gas atomization and metal powder production, melt spinning or strip casting, investment or directionally solidified casting, or vacuum distillation.
• Experience leading engineers and an appetite to grow into an Engineering Manager, VP Engineering or General Manager seat.
• An owner’s temperament: wants equity in a build, not a seat in a bureaucracy.

Sixteen‑year‑old US based builder of vacuum melting, casting, strip‑casting and atomization systems with founder‑owned, employee‑centric culture is investing heavily in growth. Company offers

• competitive base salary and performance bonus
• a meaningful equity grant (ownership, not phantom equity), sized to be the largest component of total compensation if the plan is delivered
• full medical, dental, retirement and paid‑leave benefits
• relocation assistance