Senior Director, Sales - Materials

MP Materials; Las Vegas (NV); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

MP Materials in Las Vegas, NV seeks a Senior Director, Sales - Materials to drive commercial strategy across NdPr and other rare earth products, leading key accounts and new opportunities. You will negotiate complex agreements, develop customer relationships, and coordinate cross-functional teams to scale new products for automotive, electronics, and defense markets.

The role requires a proven record in strategic sales, contract negotiation, and deal structuring, with travel 30-40% and an

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, chemistry, materials science, metallurgy or related field.
• At least 7+ years B2B commercial experience in critical minerals, metals or related sectors.
• Proven record of multi-year, high-value supply or offtake agreements.
• Experience drafting term sheets and negotiating complex contracts.

Responsibilities

• Identify and close new customers; build a pipeline aligned with volumes and product mix.
• Draft term sheets and commercial proposals, including pricing and take-or-pay terms.
• Lead negotiations on long-term offtake, supply and spot contracts with cross-functional teams.
• Own relationships with existing customers; manage forecasts, qualifications and renewals.
• Track pricing, market intelligence, and regulatory trends to shape strategy.
• Build and lead a small sales team; maintain CRM discipline and forecasting accuracy.

Skills

Strategic sales leadership

Contract negotiation

Deal structuring

Key account management

CRM discipline

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA (preferred)

Tools

CRM (Salesforce)

Job description

Company Overview:

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is rebuilding American industrial capability for a new era of autonomy, robotics, and electrification. We are the only U.S. company with a fully integrated rare earth supply chain—from mining and refining to advanced metal and magnet manufacturing. Our products include both the critical materials used to make permanent magnets and the finished magnets themselves - enabling next-generation technologies in robotics, automation, aerospace, transportation, defense, and energy systems. These materials are the foundation of physical AI - the convergence of computation, movement, and control.

We hire ambitious, mission-driven people who want to tackle complex challenges and shape the future of strategic industries. Our culture is rooted in teamwork, resiliency, and integrity, with a deep commitment to operational excellence and national purpose. MP is rapidly evolving from a materials producer into a leading U.S. manufacturer - and our people are driving that transformation.

Position Overview:

MP Materials is seeking a strategic and commercially driven Senior Director, Sales - Materials to lead the growth of our rare earth materials business segment. Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), this role will define and execute the commercial strategy for a portfolio of critical rare earth products, including NdPr, Ce, La, Sm, Gd, and other potential intermediate and separated products, while driving revenue growth across automotive, electronics, industrial, energy, and defense markets.

The Senior Director will be responsible for developing key customer relationships, identifying and securing new business opportunities, negotiating complex commercial agreements, and guiding the successful commercialization of new products. This leader will work cross-functionally to position MP Materials as a preferred supplier within the global rare earth value chain.

The ideal candidate brings a proven track record of commercial leadership in advanced materials, specialty chemicals, metals, minerals, or related industries, with expertise in strategic sales, customer development, and contract negotiation. Experience supporting new product introductions, qualification processes, and production scale-up is highly desirable.

This is an on-site leadership position based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Key Responsibilities

• Business development: Find, qualify and close new customers. Build a pipeline that fits planned production volumes and product mix.
• Deal structuring: Draft term sheets and commercial proposals, including volume commitments, index-linked pricing mechanisms, take-or-pay, prepayments, qualification milestones and INCOTERMS.
• Contract negotiation: Lead negotiation of long-term offtake, supply and spot agreements with Legal, Finance, Operations and Executive Committee.
• Account management: Own relationships with existing customers. Manage forecasts, allocations, product qualification, quality issues, renewals and expansions.
• Market intelligence: Track pricing, competitor supply, Chinese export controls and trade/FEOC policy, and turn that into commercial strategy and pricing guidance.
• Team and process: Build and lead a small sales and account management team. Keep CRM discipline, pipeline reporting and forecasting accurate.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, chemistry, materials science, metallurgy or a related field.
• 7 + years of B2B commercial experience in critical minerals, metals, specialty chemicals, mining or a similar industrial commodity. At least 5 years should be in a senior sales, business development or key account role.
• A proven record of originating and closing multi-year, high-value supply or offtake agreements.
• Hands-on experience drafting term sheets and negotiating complex commercial contracts: pricing mechanisms, volume and take-or-pay terms, INCOTERMS, liabilities, and warranties.
• Strong commercial and financial skills. Comfortable building deal economics, pricing models and credit/risk assessments.
• Executive presence. Able to represent MP with C-suite customers, and government stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel regularly, domestically and internationally (about 30-40%)

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience in rare earths, battery materials, and/or other critical minerals supply chains.
• Technical understanding of rare earth products and use cases.
• Familiarity with defense and government-linked procurement.
• Experience building a commercial function in a high-growth or scale-up setting.
• Experience selling to international customers, especially in Japan, Korea or Europe, and managing cross-border logistics and trade-compliance issues.
• An MBA or other advanced degree.

MP Materials is Proud to be an Equal Opportunity / 
Affirmative Action Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Underrepresented groups/Women/Disabled/Veterans are encouraged to apply. Candidates whose disabilities make them unable to meet the position’s requirements will still be considered qualified if they can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation.

Your Right to Work

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment verification document form upon hire.

For Assistance with Application

Alternative methods of applying for employment are available to individuals unable to submit an application through this site because of a disability. Contact Human Resources Department at 702-844-6111; dial 7 when prompted for HR; 1700 South Pavilion Center Dr. 8th Floor, Las Vegas, NV 89135 to discuss reasonable accommodation.