The Product Engineering group seeks a Senior Materials Engineer (Metals) to drive operational excellence and reliable performance for Chemelex’s mineral insulated (MI) and self-regulating cables and related product lines, including metallic sheathing, conductors, and braid wire systems.

This is an operations-based role focused on product performance, manufacturing optimization, and continuous improvement of metal-based components. The role emphasizes applied metallurgical engineering at scale ensuring that materials and processes consistently deliver high-quality, reliable products for demanding operating environments.

Material and Product Engineering

• Select and qualify metals and alloys for use in self-regulating and MI cable products, considering thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, and compatibility with assemblies and applications.
• Define and maintain material specifications and processing parameters for sheathing, conductors, braid wire, and other metallic components.
• Evaluate how manufacturing processes influence microstructure and long-term performance under thermal cycling and harsh service conditions.

Manufacturing and Process Ownership

• Own and optimize metallurgical processes used in the production of MI cable, including metal tube forming, conductor processing, and cable assembly operations.
• Support manufacturing of metallic sheathing (e.g., copper, stainless steel, nickel alloys), ensuring process consistency, dimensional control, and material integrity.
• Specify, implement, and qualify advanced forming, drawing, annealing, and joining processes.
• Act as technical authority in metallurgical engineering decisions for cables and components.
• Support supplier qualification and material changes for metallic components and wire products.

Process Improvement and Scale

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance yield, throughput, and cost efficiency in metal processing operations.
• Apply Lean principles, DOE, and SPC to reduce process variability in tube reduction, wire drawing, and braiding operations.
• Support scale-up and industrialization of new products, ensuring robust transition from NPI to full production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related field with focus on metallic components and alloys
• 8+ years of experience in development and manufacturing environments, ideally involving wire, cable, tubing, or metal forming processes

Technical Skills

• Strong expertise in metal processing techniques, including: tube forming and reduction; wire drawing and other forming processes; heat treatment and annealing; welding, brazing, and other joining solutions
• Deep understanding of structure–property–process relationships in metals used for electrical and thermal applications
• Experience with failure mechanisms, including: thermal fatigue and cycling, corrosion (including high-temperature and environmental exposure), mechanical damage during processing
• Proficiency in root cause analysis, DOE, and statistical process control (SPC)
• Familiarity with electrical heating systems, MI cable construction, or similar products is desirable