Senior Materials & Process Engineer, NdFeB Powder Metallurgy

Vulcan Elements; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Vulcan Elements in Durham, NC, United States, is seeking a Senior/Staff Materials and Process Engineer to lead end-to-end powder metallurgy for NdFeB magnets. You will optimize production, scale new alloy formulations, and drive defect investigations to improve magnetic performance and yield.

The role requires deep technical expertise in hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling, pressing, vacuum sintering, and post-sinter heat treatments, plus strong experience with SEM, XRD, TGA/DSC and DOE-style

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s/Master’s/Ph.D. in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of hands‑on engineering experience in powder metallurgy processing (industrial manufacturing setting preferred).
• Experience with reactive metal powder processing, protective inert atmospheres, vacuum thermal processing, and advanced sintering kinetics.
• Experience with materials characterization and analytical techniques such as SEM, XRD, TGA/DSC
• Strong experience in design of experiments, statistical processing, and leading research efforts

Responsibilities

• Own and optimize the powder metallurgy pipeline, including hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling, pressing and compaction, vacuum sintering, and post-sinter heat treatments.
• Correlate process variables to magnetic properties, microstructure, and part quality.
• Lead root-cause failure analyses for sample defects and implement corrective actions.
• Transition new alloy compositions from pilot scale to robust, high-volume production.
• Define technical specifications and partner with Manufacturing team for selection and commissioning of next-generation manufacturing equipment.

Skills

Powder metallurgy processing

Hydrogen decrepitation

Jet milling

Pressing and compaction

Vacuum sintering

Post-sinter heat treatments

Design of experiments

Statistical analysis

Python

MATLAB

JMP

Materials characterization

XRD

SEM

TGA/DSC

Education

Bachelor’s/Master’s/Ph.D. in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related

Tools

ISO 9001

IATF 16949

Job description

Vulcan Elements in Durham, NC, United States, is seeking a Senior/Staff Materials and Process Engineer to lead end-to-end powder metallurgy for NdFeB magnets. You will optimize production, scale new alloy formulations, and drive defect investigations to improve magnetic performance and yield.

The role requires deep technical expertise in hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling, pressing, vacuum sintering, and post-sinter heat treatments, plus strong experience with SEM, XRD, TGA/DSC and DOE-style