---
title: 'Technical Program Manager at Vulcan Elements'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-program-manager-vulcan-elements-benson-bztp80dghrxt'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# Technical Program Manager at Vulcan Elements

- **Company:** Vulcan Elements
- **Location:** Benson, NC
- **Posted:** 2026-10-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements/jobs/5441217008

## 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.

As a Technical Program Manager, you will contribute to the full lifecycle of a massive 1.1 million square foot manufacturing facility expansion—specifically leading the overarching master schedule and integration of all manufacturing engineering workstreams. You will be the central hub connecting all engineering disciplines to ensure equipment design, procurement, installation, and commissioning occur on time. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role requiring deep technical fluency and exceptional leadership presence.

## Responsibilities

- Build, connect, and maintain the comprehensive program timeline for the 1.1M square foott facility. Integrate feedback and timelines from Process, Equipment, Industrial, Controls, and Factory Engineering teams into a single, cohesive source of truth.
- Track every piece of critical path equipment from initial design concepts to vendor RFQs, Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs), Site Acceptance Tests (SATs), and final production commissioning.
- Proactively identify critical path items and technical bottlenecks that could push the program timeline. Predict delays before they happen and work with engineering teams to develop recovery plans.
- Manage and lead weekly leadership program reviews. Synthesize highly complex, technical engineering data into clear, simple, and actionable visual updates for executive stakeholders.
- Act as the connective tissue across all engineering departments. Understand the technical dependencies between a facility utility hookup, a machine's electrical panel build, and a process engineer's trial schedule.
- Master Gantt charts, Critical Path Method (CPM) networks, and milestone tracking dashboards.
- Program Risk Registers, escalation matrices, and milestone-gated PFMEA timelines.
- Weekly executive summary reports, department OKR tracking, and vendor delivery schedules.

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business.

## Qualifications

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Management, or a related technical discipline with 5+ years of experience.
- Proven experience as a program manager in a high-volume, large-scale manufacturing environment. You must possess the technical depth to understand what the engineers are building, not just tracking dates on a calendar.
- Expert-level proficiency in Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, JIRA, and other enterprise-level project management and roadmap software.
- Exceptional ability to distill complex engineering hurdles and machinery delays into simple, transparent executive summaries for leadership.
- Proven track record of gathering timeline deliverables from stubborn or highly loaded technical teams and holding them accountable to project milestones without direct reporting authority.

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Experience specifically in massive-scale facilities, heavy industrial manufacturing, or automotive/aerospace gigafactories.
- PMP (Project Management Professional) or Agile/Scrum certifications.
- Experience with physical equipment FAT/SAT execution and managing international equipment vendors.
- Experience in highly regulated industries such as Defense (DoD), Aerospace (AS9100), or Automotive (IATF 16949).

Physical and Environmental Requirements

The position requires regular presence on the production floor and the ability to navigate all areas of the facility. Candidates must be able to climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, and work in environments that may be hot, humid, or noisy. The role also requires the use of personal protective equipment, including respirators, and adherence to all applicable safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. Employees must be able to complete required fit testing, wear appropriate PPE for the duration of assigned tasks, and respond safely to changing conditions within the production environment.

## 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
- [Capital Projects Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/capital-projects-analyst-vulcan-elements-research-triangle-park-r89w58fw2m94) — 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