Project Engineer

Project Engineer

The Project Engineer leads capital projects, process improvements, and equipment upgrades within a high-temperature metal-making and alloy environment. This role bridges operations, maintenance, and technical engineering teams to ensure projects are delivered safely, efficiently, and with long-term reliability in mind. The ideal candidate is hands-on, analytical, and comfortable working in a heavy industrial setting.

As part of this role, you will be required to travel to our UK site for an initial training period. During this time, you will learn Less Common Metals' processes, standards, and operating methods. You will then serve as the trainer and project team lead within Engineering for the US site once operations commence, ensuring knowledge transfer and consistent global standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage project scopes, budgets, schedules, and risk registers for projects.
• Coordinate internal stakeholders, contractors, and OEMs to ensure alignment and timely execution.
• Lead project meetings, track milestones, and provide progress reports to leadership.
• Oversee installation, commissioning, and handover of new equipment and systems.

• Provide engineering support for melting, casting, rolling, forging, or heat-treating operations.
• Analyse process data to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities.
• Support equipment specification, design reviews, and acceptance testing for furnaces, cranes, conveyors, and automation systems.
• Conduct root-cause analysis (RCA) and implement corrective actions for equipment failures or process deviations.
• Ensure engineering documentation (P&IDs, layouts, manuals, drawings) is accurate and up to date.

• Ensure all project activities comply with site safety rules, UK regulations, and environmental standards.
• Lead hazard assessments (HAZOP, HIRA, PUWER) and implement engineering controls.
• Support continuous improvement of safety systems in high-temperature and high-energy environments.
• Promote a strong safety culture through proactive engagement and visible leadership.

• Work closely with metallurgists, process engineers, and automation engineers to ensure project designs align with process requirements and product quality standards.
• Translate technical requirements into practical project deliverables, ensuring equipment and systems meet metallurgical and operational specifications.
• Facilitate technical design reviews, ensuring cross-functional input is captured early to avoid rework.
• Partner with reliability engineers to incorporate predictive maintenance strategies, condition monitoring, and lifecycle considerations into project designs.
• Collaborate with maintenance engineering to ensure new equipment is maintainable, accessible, and supported with proper documentation and spare-parts strategies.
• Support technical teams during trials, commissioning, and performance testing, ensuring data is captured and analysed effectively.
• Act as a technical liaison between the facility and external engineering firms, ensuring designs meet site standards and operational realities.

• Provide engineering judgement during troubleshooting, shutdown planning, and equipment upgrades.
• Ensure technical teams have the resources, drawings, and information needed to execute their work.
• Lead cross-functional problem-solving sessions using tools such as 5-Why, FMEA, and fishbone analysis.
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians on project execution, technical standards, and engineering best practices.

• Work with operations to ensure project outcomes support production goals and operator usability.
• Coordinate with procurement on vendor selection, contract negotiation, and equipment sourcing.
• Support quality teams by ensuring new equipment meets product specifications and testing requirements.
• Communicate project impacts, timelines, and risks to all stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, metallurgical, or industrial engineering (or equivalent).
• 3+ years of engineering experience in heavy industry (steel, aluminum, foundry, forging, or similar).
• Proven experience managing capital or process-improvement projects.
• Strong understanding of industrial equipment, automation, and reliability principles.
• Excellent communication, planning, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred

• Experience with molten metal handling, refractory systems, or furnace operations.
• Knowledge of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or TPM methodologies.
• Familiarity with CAD tools (AutoCAD, SolidWorks) and project management software.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or working toward it.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The work environment will be a mix of a typical office environment, a manufacturing floor, and a construction site. Noise level: normal office, manufacturing, and construction noises.

USA Rare Earth proudly supports equal employment opportunities.

USA Rare Earth's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and will provide reasonable accommodations according to applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.

For assistance applying for employment through this site due to disability, please contact Human Resources, View email address on click.appcast.io, to discuss reasonable accommodations.