Sr Engineer Materials - Steel Systems
Job Summary
The Senior Materials Engineer is responsible for supporting the Product Development Process by providing deep technical expertise in ferrous materials, with a primary focus on steels used in motorcycle components and systems. This role partners with product development, manufacturing, and suppliers to ensure robust material selection, processing, and performance.
Job Responsibilities
Guides material selection and design decisions for critical components such as structural parts, powertrain elements, and fasteners, based on strong applied knowledge of steel alloys, including how composition, microstructure, and processing influence mechanical properties and long-term durability.
Works closely with suppliers and manufacturing teams to ensure process capability, optimize performance, and reduce variability in ferrous manufacturing processes, including forgings, castings, and sheet metal, with an emphasis on how processing influences grain structure, residual stress, and defect formation.
Led failure analysis and root cause investigations related to steel components, involving metallurgical evaluation of fracture surfaces, microstructure, and material conditions, with clear documentation and actionable recommendations to improve design or process robustness.
Supports understanding of mechanical behavior, particularly fatigue and fracture performance under cyclic loading, and how material condition and manufacturing variability influence field performance, applying deep knowledge of heat treatment processes such as carburizing, nitriding, induction hardening, and through-hardening.
Provides technical leadership to engineering teams, supports supplier development, and ensures alignment between design intent, material capability, and manufacturing processes, through strong cross-functional engagement.
Laboratory & Analytical Capability
The candidate should be proficient in metallurgical and analytical techniques used to evaluate ferrous materials, including hardness testing, optical emission spectroscopy, microscopy, and fractography. The ability to translate laboratory data into meaningful engineering conclusions is essential. Candidate must be willing to perform preventive maintenance on lab equipment, plan for ordering necessary lab equipment, and keep track of budget expenses.
Leadership & Communication
This role serves as a technical leader in ferrous materials, providing guidance across engineering teams and mentoring others as needed. The candidate must communicate technical topics clearly and effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Education Requirements
Position requires a bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering, Metallurgy, or related field is required.
Experience Requirements
A minimum of five years of experience in materials engineering is required, with demonstrated experience in steel materials, heat treatment processes, and durability or failure analysis in product development or manufacturing environments.
Pay Range
$93,400 - $145,000