Sr. Manager, Quality New Benson, NC

Vulcan Elements Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Vulcan Elements Inc. seeks a Senior Manager, Quality to build and lead the Quality organization at the Benson facility, establishing the plant QMS and ISO 9001 certification.

This leader will oversee analytical labs, metrology, and supplier quality while ensuring readiness for commercial production. You will partner with R&D, operations, and customers to translate drawings into measurable controls, drive CAPAs, and lead quality across the full value stream from incoming materials to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 10+ years in manufacturing quality with 5+ years in leadership roles.
• Experience in a materials-intensive and/or precision-parts environment.
• Experience spanning material/process quality and finished-part quality, including inspection/metrology.
• Experience with PFMEAs, Control Plans, MSA, SPC, inspection plans, and corrective actions.
• Experience APQP/PPAP or equivalent qualification.
• Experience establishing/managing a manufacturing QMS and ISO 9001 certification.
• Strong customer-facing problem-solving and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Benson Quality organization, including quality engineering, laboratory, metrology/inspection, and supplier quality capabilities.
• Lead ISO 9001 certification and establish a scalable plant Quality Management System.
• Own nonconformance, corrective action, traceability, calibration, audits, change control, and continuous improvement processes.
• Establish analytical laboratory and production inspection readiness for product commissioning and full-rate manufacturing.
• Translate customer drawings and specifications into measurable manufacturing controls and acceptance criteria.
• Drive PFMEAs, Control Plans, and sampling strategies for critical material/part characteristics.
• Lead pilot-to-commercial tech transfer and ensure validation and transfer of test methods.
• Manage customer communications, containment, RCA, and formal responses to quality issues.

Skills

Leadership

Quality systems

Project management

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Materials Science/Metallurgical/Mechanical/Manufacturing Engineering

Job description

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for critical defense, aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications. We are building a team committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence, and Integrity.

The Senior Manager, Quality will build and lead the Quality organization for Vulcan Elements' Benson manufacturing facility. This leader will establish the plant Quality Management System, lead ISO 9001 certification, stand up the analytical laboratory and production quality capabilities, and ensure Benson is prepared to qualify and release commercial product.

The role spans the complete value stream—from incoming materials and metallurgical processing through machining, coating, magnetic characterization, dimensional inspection, and finished-product release. The Senior Manager will work closely with R&D, the pilot facility, Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Commercial, and customers to transfer product and process knowledge into capable, repeatable commercial quality controls.

This role begins in Durham, NC and is expected to move to Benson, NC upon completion of new facility.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the Benson Quality organization, including quality engineering, laboratory, metrology/inspection, and supplier quality capabilities.
• Establish the plant Quality Management System and lead Benson through ISO 9001 certification, with systems scalable to automotive and aerospace customer requirements.
• Establish effective processes for nonconformance and product disposition, corrective action, traceability, calibration, audits, change control, and continuous improvement.
• Own the buildout and readiness of the Benson analytical laboratory and production inspection capability for product commissioning, qualification, and full-rate manufacturing.
• Define required laboratory and metrology equipment, technical requirements and acceptance criteria; partner with Procurement and Engineering to place equipment POs and manage vendors through installation, calibration, training, and acceptance.
• Partner with R&D and the pilot facility on analytical and test-method development, and own their validation, transfer, control, and implementation for commercial production.
• Lead the cross-functional development and release of process flows, PFMEAs, Control Plans, inspection/test plans, sampling strategies, MSA, and reaction plans for critical material, process, and finished-part characteristics.
• Serve as the Quality lead for pilot-to-commercial technology transfer, ensuring critical material attributes, process parameters, test methods, specifications, and lessons learned are incorporated into commercial manufacturing controls.
• Work closely with Commercial and customer teams to translate customer drawings, specifications, and qualification requirements into measurable manufacturing controls and acceptance criteria.
• Ensure manufacturing processes and measurement systems demonstrate appropriate capability before product release.
• Lead Quality deliverables for product and process qualification, APQP/PPAP, first article, safe launch, and customer-specific requirements as applicable.
• Provide Quality leadership through equipment commissioning, manufacturing readiness, startup, and production ramp.
• Own quality performance across incoming material, metallurgical processing, machining, coating, inspection, and finished-product release.
• Serve as the plant Quality focal point for manufacturing-related customer concerns and complaints, leading containment, characterization, root cause investigation, corrective action, and formal customer response.
• Ensure manufacturing issues are rigorously documented and that lessons learned are incorporated back into PFMEAs, Control Plans, specifications, and operating practices.
• Drive process capability, first-pass yield, defect reduction, supplier quality, customer PPM/escapes, and other key plant quality metrics.

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business.

RequiredQualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing quality, materials/metallurgical engineering, or manufacturing operations, including 5+ years of leadership experience.
• Experience in a materials-intensive and/or precision-parts manufacturing environment such as metals, powder metallurgy, automotive, aerospace, advanced materials, heat treatment, machining, or similar manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience spanning material/process quality and finished-part quality, including dimensional inspection, metrology, machining, or precision manufacturing.
• Experience developing and implementing PFMEAs, Control Plans, MSA, SPC/process capability, inspection plans, and corrective actions in a production environment.
• Demonstrated experience with APQP/PPAP or comparable customer product and process qualification, including translation of drawings and specifications into manufacturing quality requirements.
• Experience establishing or significantly developing a manufacturing QMS and supporting or leading ISO 9001 or comparable certification.
• Strong customer-facing problem-solving and communication skills, including structured RCA/8D and resolution of manufacturing quality issues.

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Greenfield manufacturing, major expansion, or new-product/process launch experience.
• Experience establishing or managing a metallurgical/materials laboratory, dimensional metrology function, or production testing organization.
• Experience transferring new materials or processes from development or pilot scale into commercial manufacturing.
• Working knowledge of IATF 16949, customer-specific requirements, GD&T, AS9100, magnetic materials, or powder metallurgy.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

The position requires regular presence on the production floor and the ability to navigate all areas of the facility. Candidates must be able to climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, and work in environments that may be hot, humid, or noisy. The role also requires the use of personal protective equipment, including respirators, and adherence to all applicable safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. Employees must be able to complete required fit testing, wear appropriate PPE for the duration of assigned tasks, and respond safely to changing conditions within the production environment.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Vulcan Elements’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.