Pilot Plant Manager
$120,000–$150,000 year
On-siteAlameda, California, United States
Job Summary
Own production by planning campaigns against output targets and running daily operations including furnace, casting, and downstream handling. Track and improve yield through mass balance maintenance, corrective actions, and feedstock inventory management. Build the operator team by screening hires, developing training programs, and scheduling shifts. Own maintenance by running preventive programs, managing spares, and minimizing downtime. Enforce safety protocols around molten metal and high-temperature furnaces while leading incident investigations. Close the loop with engineering by logging run data and feeding operational learnings into process development. Report directly to founders while overseeing the commissioning of a new 24/7 pilot line in Alameda, CA.
Required Qualifications
- 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
- On-site in Alameda, CA
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