---
title: 'Senior Controls Engineer at Solcoa Industries'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-controls-engineer-solcoa-industries-alameda-w3gwbz70fjqd'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-03'
---

# Senior Controls Engineer at Solcoa Industries

- **Company:** Solcoa Industries
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-03
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/solcoa/3cc7967a-cfb3-4dcb-bc96-6eebfae09e14

## 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

The Senior Controls Engineer will own the design, implementation, testing, and commissioning of instrumentation and controls for Solcoa's metals processing systems. You will build scalable measurement and data recording systems, integrate PLC-based automation into reactor designs, and develop controls for gas delivery and furnace operation. Working closely with process and mechanical engineers, you will translate process requirements into reliable automation and protective controls that support safe operation and shutdown as we scale production.

## What You’ll Do

- Instrumentation and Data Acquisition. Design scalable systems to measure and record temperature, pressure, gas concentrations, and process flows. Select and integrate instruments, establish calibration requirements, and build reliable data logging and operator displays that support troubleshooting and production scale-up.
- Reactor, Gas, and Furnace Controls. Develop PLC-based controls for reactors, gas systems, and furnaces. Use process measurements to regulate gas flow, pressure, and heating. Work with process and mechanical engineers to integrate controls into reactor designs and automate operating sequences.
- Safe Operation and Shutdown. Design alarms, interlocks, and shutdown controls with process and safety engineers. Implement required safety functions and define how systems respond to abnormal conditions, instrument failures, and loss of utilities to bring processes to a safe state.
- Testing and Commissioning. Lead testing and commissioning of instrumentation and controls. Verify calibration, wiring, control logic, and shutdown functions. Resolve issues during installation and startup, document test results, and prepare operating instructions and training for the operations team.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Competitive base salary.
- Generous stock options.
- 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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