The posting
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.
Required Qualifications
- 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.
