---
title: 'Research Engineer, Metallurgy at Solcoa Industries'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-engineer-metallurgy-solcoa-industries-alameda-e7fcsxbcnp3n'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-03'
---

# Research Engineer, Metallurgy at Solcoa Industries

- **Company:** Solcoa Industries
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Compensation:** $120k–$175k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2025-09-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-03
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/solcoa/aa49d972-f952-406a-8e49-abe133ca9ac0

## Job description

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

Own difficult, first-principles R&D that unlocks rare-earth metal production at scale. You will design and execute high-temperature experiments, build and operate custom rigs, extract mechanisms from data, and translate lab breakthroughs into reproducible unit operations for our demo plant. This role is deeply technical and experimental.

- Pyrometallurgical research: calcination, vacuum/steam distillation, carbothermic/metallothermic reduction, smelting, refining.
- High-temperature electrochemistry: molten-salt/molten-oxide electrolysis, cell design, anode/cathode materials, current efficiency.
- Nuclear engineering research: molten-salt chemistries, materials compatibility, graphite/refractory behavior, high-T gas-cooled systems.
- Metal processing engineering: molten metal handling/casting, powder metallurgy (atomization, pressing, sintering), heat treatment.

## What You’ll Do

- Run bench/pilot experiments to quantify kinetics, transport, and equilibria.
- Build/operate furnace systems, vacuum/inert atmospheres, retorts/crucibles.
- Develop and validate PFD-level experimental flows; compute mass/energy balances; establish operating envelopes.
- Apply thermochemical modeling (CALPHAD/Thermo-Calc/FactSage/HSC) and phase diagrams to guide conditions and materials.
- Characterize feed and products using ICP-MS/OES, XRD, SEM/EDS, and LECO O/N/H; close element balances.
- Author rigorous documentation: SOPs, test plans, hazards analyses, data packages; present results with statistical confidence.
- Collaborate with machinists/technicians to fabricate fixtures; specify sensors, heaters, seals, and vacuum hardware.
- Enforce safety for molten metals, reactive powders, hot work, compressed gases, and magnetized materials.

## What You Bring

Required

- Typically 3+ years (flexible) as a research engineer/assistant or PhD-level researcher with demonstrated research achievements (papers, patents, prototypes).
- Depth in at least one focus area above; strong foundation in thermodynamics, transport, reaction kinetics, and materials.
- Proven ability to build experimental setups, write/control test scripts, and produce decision-grade data.
- Hands-on with furnaces, vacuum/inert gas systems, gloveboxes, and high-T instrumentation; meticulous lab discipline.
- Data fluency (Python/MATLAB, spreadsheets); uncertainty analysis; clear, technical writing.

## Preferred

- Experience with rare-earth chemistry/metallurgy (Nd, Dy, Tb), chloride/fluoride molten salts, and contamination control.
- Corrosion/materials compatibility at high temperature; selection of refractories and crucible/alloy systems.
- Basic CAD (Fusion/SolidWorks) for fixtures; simple FEA/thermal modeling; familiarity with HAZOP/MOC culture.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Competitive base salary.
- Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance.
- Company-provided lunch daily.
- Visa sponsorship available if needed.

## About Solcoa Industries

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Solcoa Industries converts end-of-life magnets and magnet production waste from EVs, data centers, wind turbines, and defense directly into high-purity rare earth metals in America, bypassing the traditional Chinese supply chain.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Angel-backed startup)
- **Headquarters**: Alameda, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2024
- **Founders**: Hooman Reza Nezhad (Co-founder, CEO) and Artem Iurkovskyi (Co-founder, CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Rare earth metals recycling and manufacturing; critical minerals supply chain.
- **Target customers**: B2B – OEMs, magnet producers, defense contractors, and supply chain partners in EV, renewable energy, data center, and aerospace sectors.
- **Mission**: “Bring rare earths home” – establish a domestic, carbon-zero source of rare earth metals to reduce Western dependence on China.

## Products & Services
- **NdPr Metal Alloy (Sample E-44-3)**: High-purity neodymium-praseodymium metal derived directly from scrap magnets. Available now for testing and production trials.
- **Heavy Rare Earths**: Coming soon.
- **SWARF Processing**: Conversion of magnet cutting waste (swarf) directly into magnet-ready metal.
- **Primary Oxides Processing**: Metal production from refined oxides.
- **Scrap Magnet Procurement**: Solcoa sources end-of-life magnets as feedstock, offering a demagnetization line and on-site storage.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding undisclosed; backed by “Strategic Angels across defense, robotics, and…” (no named investors disclosed).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Strategic angel investors in defense and robotics; partnerships with OEMs and magnet producers (not named).
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Active 35,000 sqft production facility in Alameda
  - 10 tonnes-per-annum REE metal production line under construction (current line: 3 tpa)
  - 8 employees with 9 open positions – headcount growth expected
  - Stated goal: “scale to meet one-third of US demand”

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary process**: Solcoa is one of the only companies in the world that converts magnet waste directly into magnet-ready metal, bypassing the intermediate steps that typically require China.
- **Faster, cleaner, cheaper**: Claims to be faster, cleaner, and cheaper than conventional processes.
- **In-house capabilities**: Full metallurgical lab, analytical equipment (ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, LECO), high-temperature furnaces, and fabrication tools – all under one roof.
- **National security angle**: Reduces US reliance on Chinese rare earth supply, a critical geopolitical moat.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale production**: Ramping up to a 10-tpa line and expanding the Alameda facility.
- **New chemistries**: Developing entirely new processes for rare earth metal production in America.
- **Talent acquisition**: Hiring engineers, R&D technicians, plant operators, and procurement specialists to build a world-class team.
- **Customer engagement**: Offering metal samples and production trials to OEMs and magnet producers.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Small, obsessive team (8 people) solving a deeply technical and mission-critical problem. Described as “truly obsessive people working on what might be the most important industrial problem of our time.”
- **Work model**: On-site in SF Bay Area (Alameda) – all current roles require physical presence.
- **Compensation**: Highly competitive base salaries ($100K–$350K for engineering roles), stock options, and strong benefits.
- **Impact**: Direct contribution to Western industrial independence and climate goals (carbon-zero metals).
- **Engineering focus**: Heavy emphasis on metallurgy, process engineering, and high-temperature chemistry; chance to build from scratch.

## Sources
1. [solcoaindustries.com](https://solcoaindustries.com/)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/solcoa](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/solcoa)
3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/solcoaindustries)
4. [solcoaindustries.com/team](https://www.solcoaindustries.com/team)
5. [solcoaindustries.com/capabilities](https://www.solcoaindustries.com/capabilities)

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