--- title: 'Capital Projects Analyst at Vulcan Elements' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/capital-projects-analyst-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-r89w58fw2m94' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-18' --- # Capital Projects Analyst at Vulcan Elements - **Company:** Vulcan Elements - **Location:** Research Triangle Park, NC - **Posted:** 2026-10-08 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements/jobs/5443190008 ## Job description 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 Integrity. The Capital Projects Analyst will sit at the intersection of Accounting, Finance and Commercial Manufacturing stewarding the financial aspects of the build-out of Vulcan’s commercial manufacturing facility in Benson, NC, the production equipment that will operate at the facility, and all of the supporting capital infrastructure. This position is a critical part of Vulcan’s success as it will be in charge of Vulcan’s largest financial account: Property, Plant and Equipment. The ideal candidate combines strong accounting foundations, with an analytical mindset, and an ability to act as the Accounting and Finance liaison to the Commercial Manufacturing team. You will own the processes, controls, and financial infrastructure required to manage a substantial capital project—from construction-in-progress and capitalization through asset commissioning and ongoing fixed-asset accounting. Key Responsibilities: - Own key aspects of accounting for the company's capital investments, including construction-in-progress (CIP), fixed assets, depreciation, asset transfers, disposals, and impairments. - Assist in the development of the Company’s capital requisition process - Evaluate project expenditures and determine appropriate capitalization under U.S. GAAP, partnering with project teams on complex or judgmental items. - Establish and maintain accurate asset records as projects progress from construction through commissioning and placed-in-service status. - Develop processes for componentization and useful-life assignment across complex manufacturing equipment, facilities, and infrastructure. - Support monthly, quarterly, and annual close activities related to capital projects and fixed assets, including reconciliations and financial statement support. - Partner with Finance and project leadership to track capital spending against budgets and forecasts across the commercial facility build-out. - Develop reporting and analytics that provide visibility into committed, incurred, forecasted, and capitalized project costs. - Design and implement internal controls over the capital expenditure lifecycle, including project authorization, purchasing, invoice coding, capitalization, commissioning, and asset disposal. Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business. Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field. - 3+ years of progressive accounting/finance experience, with meaningful exposure to fixed assets, capital projects, manufacturing accounting, project accounting, or a related area. - Strong understanding of U.S. GAAP, particularly accounting for property, plant and equipment and capitalization of project costs. - Experience working with significant capital projects, manufacturing environments, construction, industrial operations, or other asset-intensive businesses strongly preferred. - Strong analytical skills and comfort working with large and sometimes imperfect datasets. - Strong judgment and an ability to establish practical accounting policies and controls in a rapidly evolving environment. - Excellent communication skills and an ability to work effectively with both finance and non-finance stakeholders. - A hands-on mindset and willingness to build processes from the ground up rather than simply administer established systems. Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities. ## About Vulcan Elements ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Vulcan Elements manufactures American rare-earth permanent magnets to build a resilient, Western supply chain for critical industries including defense, aerospace, automotive, and AI datacenters. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed + Series A + Debt financing) - **Headquarters**: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (primary R&D operations also in Research Triangle Park, NC) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: John Maslin (CEO) and Dr. Piotr Kulik (CTO) ## Core Business - Primary industry: Advanced manufacturing of rare earth permanent magnets (neodymium). - Target customers: B2B and government/defense – enterprise customers in defense, aerospace, automotive, industrial, consumer electronics, AI datacenters, semiconductor fabrication. - Mission: "Improving U.S. and allied security by producing the Rare Earth Magnets that are critical to economic and national security." – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/) ## Products & Services - **Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (Neodymium)**: High-performance sintered and bonded magnets used in motors, generators, sensors, and actuators. Application areas include defense systems, satellites, AI datacenters, semiconductor fabrication, consumer electronics, industrial motors, power tools, and non-drive train motors. – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/) - **R&D and Process Optimization**: Developing next-generation magnetic technologies and advanced manufacturing processes focused on efficiency, cost competitiveness, and supply chain transparency. – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/) ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Total Funding**: $690.2 million (as of November 2025) across three rounds: - Seed Round (Dec 2023): $5.2M – 3 investors. - Series A (Sep 2025): $65M – led by Washington Harbour Partners and Altimeter. - Debt Financing (Nov 2025): $620M – led by the Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC). – [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/vulcan-elements) / [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vulcan-elements) - **Key Metric**: Total funding $690.2M; production output of 10 metric tons in 2025. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital, Washington Harbour Partners, Altimeter. - **Growth Signals**: - Announced a $1.4 billion partnership with the United States government. - Selected Benson, North Carolina, for a 1.1 million sq ft facility – the largest magnet manufacturing plant outside China. - Employee headcount of 38 (+200% YoY) as of mid-2026. - Rapidly scaling pilot operations; 37 open job listings on Greenhouse. – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/) / [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vulcan-elements) / [greenhouse.io](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements) ## Competitive Advantages - **Domestic Supply Chain**: The only U.S. company vertically integrating rare earth magnet production, reducing reliance on Chinese supply. - **Technical Expertise**: Co-founder Dr. Piotr Kulik is one of four rare earth magnet science professors in the U.S. and opened the first academic rare earth magnetics lab in the country in over 20 years. - **Government Backing**: Strong ties to U.S. national security agencies and over a billion dollars in government-funded partnerships. - **Process Innovation**: Proprietary process optimization methods aimed at cost competitiveness without sacrificing performance. - **National Security Focus**: All operations require U.S. Person status, aligning with defense and aerospace customer needs. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale Production**: Transition from pilot-scale (10 metric tons/year) to mass production at the Benson, NC facility to meet surging demand from defense, AI, and automotive sectors. - **Supply Chain Resilience**: Partnering exclusively with U.S. and allied-country suppliers (UK, Australia, Japan). - **R&D**: Developing next-generation magnetic materials and advanced manufacturing processes. - **Talent Acquisition**: Actively hiring engineers, scientists, operations, and business development talent to support rapid growth. – [greenhouse.io](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements) ## Why Work Here - **Mission-Driven Culture**: Employees contribute directly to national security and economic resilience, with values of Mission Focus, Technical Excellence, and Transparency. – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/careers/) - **Benefits**: Competitive equity, unlimited PTO, 90% health insurance (100% for employee), 99% dental and vision, 401K, fully stocked kitchen. – [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/careers/) - **Work Environment**: Fast-paced startup with a "startup manufacturer" ethos; roles are largely on-site in Research Triangle Park, NC or Benson, NC. Internship opportunities available with mentorship and real impact on critical projects. - **Growth Opportunity**: Extremely high headcount growth (+200% YoY) and large-scale facility expansion offer rapid career advancement. - **U.S. Person Requirement**: Many positions require U.S. Person status due to government contracts. ## Sources 1. [vulcanelements.com](https://vulcanelements.com/) 2. [vulcanelements.com/careers](https://vulcanelements.com/careers/) 3. [greenhouse.io (Vulcan Elements jobs)](http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements) 4. [linkedin.com/company/vulcan-elements](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vulcan-elements) 5. [cbinsights.com/company/vulcan-elements](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/vulcan-elements) ## Other roles at Vulcan Elements - [Laboratory Technician – Materials Characterization](https://feeny.ai/job/laboratory-technician-materials-characterization-vulcan-elements-research-dyjdvhdanh07) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Safety Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/safety-manager-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-pt78qasw38w5) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Maintenance Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/maintenance-manager-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-16xbaat3zj0e) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Operator - R&D / Pilot Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/operator-r-d-pilot-operations-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-35krxp35k1yr) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Controls Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/controls-technician-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-44dpx717q56q) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Mechanical Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-systems-engineer-vulcan-elements-benson-th27p71e149r) — Benson, NC - [Capital Projects Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/capital-projects-engineer-vulcan-elements-benson-snfcd58ssmqm) — Benson, NC - [Electrical Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-systems-engineer-vulcan-elements-benson-t95hqdykgzfk) — Benson, NC - [Senior Laboratory Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-laboratory-technician-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-mc2ps4vvd8jj) — Research Triangle Park, NC - [Technical Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-vulcan-elements-benson-bztp80dghrxt) — Benson, NC