---
title: 'Staff Mechanical Engineer at Solcoa Industries'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-mechanical-engineer-solcoa-industries-alameda-rcyty0ybj8ae'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-13'
---

# Staff Mechanical Engineer at Solcoa Industries

- **Company:** Solcoa Industries
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Compensation:** $210k–$250k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-08
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/solcoa/a5adf20a-f5a5-4a5e-8636-908cdb2734d8

## 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

Staff Mechanical Engineer will own Solcoa's mechanical and thermal design of the high-temperature reactors. You radically simplify the mechanical and thermal designs, optimize the design for ease of manufacturability, assembly, and maintenance. The manufactured and modular reactors will be deployed to Solcoa One, the largest rare earth metallization plant in the US, and will be capable of producing any rare earth metal in a standardized process.

## What You’ll Do

- Reactor Design. Own the mechanical and thermal design of Solcoa’s modular high-temperature reactors, from concept through operating hardware. Translate process requirements into integrated designs for reactor vessels, crucibles, seals, and metal-handling mechanisms.
- Thermal and Mechanical Validation. Use first-principles calculations, simulation, and instrumented testing to validate heat transfer, thermal expansion, structural loads, and component life under repeated thermal cycling. Resolve heating, cooling, vacuum-integrity, and material-compatibility problems with the thermal and research teams to improve throughput and reliability.
- Design for Manufacturing and Maintenance. Radically simplify reactor assemblies, reduce part count, and standardize components for repeatable manufacturing. Own CAD models, fabrication drawings, tolerances, BOM, and equipment specifications. Work directly with fabricators and suppliers to reducelead time and make reactors easier to assemble, service, and repair.
- Prototype Development and Commissioning. Drive hands-on assembly, troubleshooting, and cold and hot testing of pilot and next-generation reactors. Define acceptance criteria, lead mechanical factory acceptance testing, and support installation and commissioning at Solcoa One.
- Technical Leadership. Lead a team of mechanical engineers, organize the mechanical design process, conduct design reviews. Interface with fabrication, operations, and process teams to create mechanical design requirements and make key systematic design decisions.

## What You Bring

Required

- Proficiency in CAD (Fusion).
- Hands-on experience with metal machining and shop tools.
- Experience with high-temperature systems and/or vacuum hardware.
- Detail-orientation and precise technical execution.
- Comfort working independently in a fast-paced, build-measure-learn environment.
- Availability to start soon.

## Preferred

- Coursework or experience in chemistry or physics (thermo, materials, reaction engineering, or similar).

## 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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