Pilot Plant Manager

MAKING THE METALS POWERING THE WORLD Solcoa is building the next generation of American metalmaking, starting with rare earths — the metals of power and motion. We've developed a new chemistry that converts rare earth oxides into high-purity metals — the materials inside every EV, fighter jet, wind turbine, and data center — cleaner, cheaper, and faster than any conventional process. Now we're scaling it to thousands of tonnes of annual production. THE ROLE We are commissioning a new 24/7 pilot production line at our Alameda facility and need someone to own it end-to-end. You will run the line as a production operation: safety, output, yield, uptime, people, and material flow. You will be the person accountable for how much metal the plant made this week. You'll report directly to the founders and work alongside our engineering team. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own production. Plan and execute production campaigns against output targets. Run daily operations of the pilot line, including furnace operations, casting, and downstream handling. - Track and improve yield. Own the mass balance. Maintain yield and recovery tracking by campaign, identify loss mechanisms, and drive corrective actions. - Own maintenance. Build and run the preventive maintenance program. Track equipment condition, schedule and direct maintenance work (in-house and contractor), manage spares inventory, and minimize unplanned downtime. - Build the operator team. Screen, interview, and help hire operators. Develop the training program: SOPs, qualification checklists, and sign-offs. Train operators directly on equipment and procedures. - Manage the schedule. Own operator shift scheduling and coverage. - Track feedstock and inventory. Manage receipt, storage, staging, and consumption of oxide and magnet feedstocks, reductants, salts, crucibles, and consumables. Maintain accurate inventory and reorder points. - Own safety on the floor. Enforce safe work practices around molten metal, high-temperature furnaces, inert gas systems, and reactive materials. Lead incident investigation and near-miss reporting. Support environmental and permitting compliance (BAAQMD, CUPA). - Close the loop with engineering. Log run data, flag deviations, and feed operational learnings back into process development and the design of our commercial plant. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Degree in metallurgical, chemical, materials, or mechanical engineering (or equivalent hands-on depth). - 5+ years in production operations at a high-temperature metals or chemicals plant — smelting, foundry, specialty alloys, glass, or similar. You understand the chemistry and thermodynamics of what you run, not just the buttons. - Direct experience supervising hourly operators: hiring, training, scheduling, performance management. - Track record of owning production metrics — yield, recovery, OEE, downtime — and improving them. - Hands-on maintenance fluency: you can read a P&ID, troubleshoot alongside a millwright, and know when to call the vendor. - Comfortable in a startup environment: incomplete SOPs, equipment still being commissioned, and the expectation that you'll build the systems that don't exist yet. DETAILS - On-site in Alameda, CA. - Competitive salary + meaningful equity in a fast-scaling company.