Senior Engineer, Metal Making

Position Overview

MP Materials is seeking a hands-on Senior Engineer to lead the development of advanced technologies for producing high-purity rare earth metal and alloys, critical for high-performance permanent magnets. This role focuses on developing and scaling electrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical technologies – including but not limited to molten salt electrolysis and metallothermic reduction.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead the development and optimization of rare earth metal and alloy production processes.
• Design and execute laboratory and pilot-scale experiments involving high-temperature reaction kinetics, molten salt systems, and reduction pathways.
• Apply simulation tools to model the thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and electrochemical behavior in rare earth metal extraction and refining.
• Translate lab and pilot-scale findings into scalable, production ready processes.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with R&D, manufacturing, and quality teams to align process development with operational goals.
• Characterize materials using techniques such as XRD, XRF, LECO, and SEM.
• Utilize electrochemical instrumentation (e.g., galvanostats, potentiostats) and techniques (e.g., cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy) to tune and evaluate processes.
• Document all projects, provide written guidance for model usage, and build team knowledge of current and future rare earth research.
• Engage with university researchers, strategic partners, and government laboratories involved in rare earth reduction research to bring value and knowledge to MP Materials.
• Other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering, Metallurgy, Chemical Engineering, Electrochemistry, or related field.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with molten salt electrolysis and/or metallothermic reduction processes.
• Experience with electrochemical instrumentation and techniques.
• Strong theoretical and experimental background in electrochemistry, transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and kinetics.
• Agile researcher, adept at identifying untested questions about materials and processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Desired Qualities

• Experience building furnace reactors, electrolysis cells, and custom experimental setups for electrometallurgy and/or pyrometallurgy processes.
• Experience with rare earth metal, alloy, and/or magnet making processes.
• Experience leading technical development projects, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Experience with thermodynamic modeling software such as FactSage and simulation tools such as finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics.
• Experience with programming, and the ability to apply those skills to automate routine analysis, data management, and process control operations.
• Lifelong learner able and enthusiastic to apply existing skills and experiences to new problems.