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Applications Engineer

Research Triangle Park, NC

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. 
 
As an Applications Engineer, you will own the technical progression of customer programs from initial engagement through qualification and production. You will serve as the technical bridge between customers, commercial teams, and internal engineering—ensuring that customer requirements are translated into manufacturable, high-performance magnet solutions. 

This role sits within the Commercial Development team and is critical to advancing customer opportunities through the pipeline (samples → validation → qualification → production), directly supporting revenue growth and successful product execution. 
 
Responsibilities 

Customer Technical Support 

  • Work directly with customers to understand application requirements and identify appropriate permanent magnet solutions  
  • Provide guidance on magnet materials, grades, coatings, and performance characteristics  
  • Serve as a primary technical point of contact for customer questions, clarifications, and issue resolution  
  • Communicate technical requirements clearly between customers and internal teams 
  • Drive customer programs through key milestones including sample delivery, testing, validation, and production readiness 
  • Track and manage technical progress of customer engagements in coordination with the commercial team 
  • Act as the voice of the customer internally, ensuring requirements, constraints, and performance expectations are clearly understood and executed 

Application Engineering & Magnet Guidance 

  • Guide customers in selecting appropriate magnet materials, grades, and configurations for new and existing applications  
  • Provide magnetic application support, including performance tradeoffs and basic analysis  
  • Evaluate customer requirements against internal manufacturing capabilities and provide DFM recommendations balancing performance, cost, manufacturability, and heavy rare earth (HRE) usage 
  • Translate application needs into clear technical requirements for production and materials teams 

Execution, Quality & Problem Solving 

  • Coordinate with R&D, manufacturing, and quality teams to ensure alignment with customer requirements  
  • Support prototyping, testing, and validation of magnet products in customer applications  
  • Support root cause investigations for customer issues and non-conforming product, including corrective actions (e.g., 8D)  
  • Partner with internal quality teams and customers on qualification activities (e.g., PPAP, where applicable)  
  • Drive timely resolution of application, performance, and quality issues across internal teams 
  • Operate with urgency to support fast-moving customer timelines and internal production ramp 

Customer Qualification & Program Execution 

  • Own technical execution of customer programs from initial engagement through qualification and production release 
  • Coordinate internally to ensure timely delivery of samples, test data, and technical documentation 
  • Support customer qualification processes, including PPAP, first article inspection, and validation testing where applicable 
  • Ensure alignment between customer expectations and internal execution timelines 

 

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business 

Qualifications 

  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or related technical field 
  • 5+ years of experience in a customer-facing engineering, applications engineering, or product engineering role 
  • Experience working with manufactured components in a production environment (e.g., metals, ceramics, magnets, or similar) 
  • Ability to interpret technical drawings, specifications, and customer requirements 
  • Experience collaborating cross-functionally with manufacturing and quality teams 
  • Strong problem-solving skills with experience supporting root cause investigations 
  • Excellent communication skills with the ability to interface directly with customers 

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities  

Desired Skills 

  • Experience in automotive, aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability industries 
  • Experience working with permanent magnets, particularly NdFeB materials 
  • Familiarity with magnetic systems or applications (e.g., motors, sensors, actuators) 
  • Familiarity with quality and qualification processes (e.g., PPAP, first article inspection) 
  • Ability to read and interpret GD&T and complex engineering drawings 
  • Exposure to design-for-manufacturability (DFM) concepts in a production environment 
  • Experience supporting root cause investigations and corrective actions (e.g., 8D, CAPA) 
  • Experience working directly with customers in a technical or applications-focused role 
  • Exposure to basic electromagnetic or magnetic analysis tools (FEA or similar) 

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