SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Vulcan Elements manufactures American rare-earth permanent magnets for critical defense, aerospace, automotive, and industrial applications. The Senior Manager, Quality will build and lead the Quality organization for the Benson manufacturing facility from the ground up.
This is a greenfield leadership role spanning 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 establish the plant Quality Management System, lead ISO 9001 certification, stand up the analytical laboratory and production quality capabilities, and ensure the facility is prepared to qualify and release commercial product.
Key responsibilities include:
- Building and leading the Benson Quality organization, including quality engineering, laboratory, metrology/inspection, and supplier quality capabilities
- Establishing the plant Quality Management System and leading ISO 9001 certification with systems scalable to automotive and aerospace customer requirements
- Establishing processes for nonconformance, product disposition, corrective action, traceability, calibration, audits, change control, and continuous improvement
- Owning the buildout and readiness of the analytical laboratory and production inspection capability for product commissioning, qualification, and full-rate manufacturing
- Defining laboratory and metrology equipment requirements; partnering with Procurement and Engineering on equipment procurement and vendor management
- Partnering with R&D and pilot facility on analytical and test-method development, validation, and implementation for commercial production
- Leading cross-functional development and release of process flows, PFMEAs, Control Plans, inspection/test plans, sampling strategies, MSA, and reaction plans
- Serving as Quality lead for pilot-to-commercial technology transfer
- Working with Commercial and customer teams to translate specifications and qualification requirements into manufacturing controls
- Ensuring manufacturing processes and measurement systems demonstrate appropriate capability before product release
- Leading Quality deliverables for product and process qualification, APQP/PPAP, first article, and customer-specific requirements
- Providing Quality leadership through equipment commissioning, manufacturing readiness, startup, and production ramp
- Owning quality performance across the entire value stream
- Serving as plant Quality focal point for customer concerns and complaints, leading containment, RCA, corrective action, and customer response
- Driving process capability, first-pass yield, defect reduction, supplier quality, and key plant quality metrics
The role begins in Durham, NC and transitions to Benson upon facility completion. Regular presence on the production floor is required, including ability to navigate all facility areas, climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, and work in hot, humid, or noisy environments. PPE including respirators is required.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical discipline
- 10+ years of experience in manufacturing quality, materials/metallurgical engineering, or manufacturing operations, including 5+ years of leadership experience
- Experience in materials-intensive and/or precision-parts manufacturing (metals, powder metallurgy, automotive, aerospace, advanced materials, heat treatment, machining, or similar)
- 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 production
- 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
