Quality Engineer

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Transparency.  The Quality Engineer is responsible for establishing and maintaining robust quality processes within the Pilot manufacturing facility, ensuring Pilot operates with the discipline and consistency of an ISO 9001-certified manufacturing site while supporting rapid product and process development.  Working closely with Manufacturing, R&D, Process Engineering, Analytical Lab and Quality, this role develops and implements production quality processes, supports manufacturing operations, drives process improvements, and helps deploy digital quality systems. The Quality Engineer is a key contributor to building scalable manufacturing practices that can be transferred to future production facilities.  This role does not own metrology equipment, measurement system development, or analytical method qualification, but partners closely with the Metrology Lead to ensure appropriate inspection and testing requirements are defined.  This role can be located in either RTP or our Benson location. Responsibilities  Pilot Manufacturing Support  Serve as the primary Quality representative for Pilot manufacturing operations.  Support daily production activities by ensuring quality requirements are understood and consistently applied.  Partner with Manufacturing and Engineering to resolve production issues and implement corrective actions.  Lead root cause investigations and drive effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).  Review and disposition nonconforming material in collaboration with Engineering and Operations.  Quality Management System  Develop and maintain quality procedures, work instructions, forms, and records supporting Pilot operations.  Implement quality processes aligned with ISO 9001 requirements, preparing Pilot to operate with certified-quality practices.  Support document control, change management, record retention, and risk-based thinking throughout manufacturing.  Participate in internal audits and management reviews and track actions to closure.  Production Quality Planning  Develop production quality plans and inspection requirements for Pilot manufacturing.  Define Critical-to-Quality (CTQ) characteristics with Engineering and Manufacturing.  Create and maintain Control Plans that define inspection points, sampling frequency, and acceptance criteria.  Collaborate with the Metrology Lead and Analytical Lab Lead to ensure appropriate mea...