Senior Process Engineer

Solcoa is building an entirely new category of American metalmaking — rare earth reactors and production lines designed, fabricated, and operated entirely in-house. The company has $75M in seed funding, produces 10 tons annually today, and is racing to commission a 500-ton plant by mid-2027.

 The team comes from MIT, Tesla, SpaceX, and Redwood Materials and operates with lean, high-output intensity. Solcoa is reshoring critical metal production to the West with novel, cleaner technologies — and the process engineer in this role will directly determine whether the plant comes online on time.

The Opportunity

Solcoa is looking for a Senior Process Engineer to lead the scale-up and commissioning of their 500-ton-per-year rare earth metallization plant. You will take ownership of finalizing detailed engineering, managing vendor relationships, and driving the plant from its current state through construction and commissioning — on time and on budget.

 This is an end-to-end ownership role, not a support role. You will finalize the detailed engineering, place equipment orders, coordinate site modifications, develop commissioning plans, and train operators. You should be someone who has genuinely led a project from concept through startup, thinks from first principles, and thrives in a high-accountability environment. Travel 1-2 times per month to vendor and plant sites is required.

What You’ll Do

• •      Finalize detailed engineering for a 500-ton/year vacuum induction furnace and associated plant systems
• •      Place orders with vendors; manage equipment specification, selection, FAT/SAT, and installation
• •      Finalize the plant site and coordinate modifications including raising roofs, new foundations, and power, water, gas, and compressed air lines
• •      Own and update core process deliverables including PFDs, P&IDs, mass and energy balances, and control narratives
• •      Develop commissioning plans, SOPs, and operator training to bring the plant from construction through startup and ramp-to-rate

You Should Have

• •      6-10+ years of experience in process or project engineering for industrial plant design, construction, and commissioning
• •      Demonstrated ownership of a plant or facility through commissioning end-to-end
• •      Experience scaling processes from lab or pilot scale to commercial scale
• •      Engineering degree in chemical, metallurgical, or a related field
• •      Proficiency with PFDs, P&IDs, mass and energy balances, and HAZOP studies
• •      Experience with high-temperature materials processing or furnace operations
• •      Vendor management experience including equipment spec, FAT/SAT, and installation oversight
• •      First-principles thinker — does not solely reason by analogy
• •      A signal of excellence — top school, top company, or equivalent standout experience

Nice to Have

• •      Experience at Tesla, SpaceX, Redwood Materials, Kairos Power, or similar high-output engineering environments
• •      Background in rare earth or specialty metals processing