Head of Capital Projects

American Advanced Materials • Mountain View, CA

17h

About The Position

The Head of Capital Projects will lead front-end engineering and eventual capital project execution for a first-of-its-kind advanced materials plant, with current projects exceeding $1 billion in capital expenditure. This operating role is accountable for turning process and facility concepts into a financeable, buildable, and operational industrial project.

The role leads the internal design and pre-construction EPC team and coordinates with engineering, site operations, utilities, procurement, finance, and external EPC and general contractor partners. It spans process engineering, industrial construction, project finance, and software-enabled execution across a complex, multi-year program.

The position owns integrated planning and project controls across engineering, site selection, permitting, procurement, commercial readiness, and execution. It also develops the operating cadence and project documentation needed to support construction readiness, financing, government funding, customer offtake, and partner decisions.

Requirements

• Proven success leading complex technical programs with interdependent engineering, commercial, vendor, and executive stakeholders.
• Experience managing front-end engineering, FEED, EPC, industrial construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, chemicals, mining, semiconductors, aerospace, or comparable capital-intensive programs at $100 million–$1 billion CAPEX scale.
• Strong technical fluency with process engineering and industrial facility design deliverables, including PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, utility systems, layouts, permitting packages, and cost estimates.
• Proven track record of rapid AI and software adoption to accelerate work in design, estimation, and EPC-related tasks.
• Ability to build project schedules, own project controls, track critical paths, manage scope changes, and drive decisions under uncertainty.
• Experience coordinating external engineering firms, EPC contractors, permitting consultants, equipment vendors, utilities, customers, financiers, or government stakeholders.
• Ability to operate with founder-level ownership, identify gaps, create structure, and drive workstreams to completion without waiting for perfect instructions.
• Excellent written communication skills, including producing executive updates, technical decision memos, business cases, and diligence-ready project documentation.
• Good cost-estimation skills and ability to obtain estimates quickly with limited data.
• Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, construction management, operations, or a related technical field.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with advanced materials, specialty chemicals, energy systems, semiconductors, defense industrial base programs, or critical minerals.
• PMP, P.E., MBA, M.S. in engineering, or equivalent project leadership credential.

Responsibilities

• Own the integrated program plan for front-end engineering, site selection, permitting, procurement, commercial readiness, and capital project execution.
• Drive FEED deliverables across internal engineers, external EPC firms, permitting specialists, equipment vendors, utilities, and commercial counterparties.
• Translate technical objectives into an execution roadmap with owners, milestones, risk registers, decision gates, and schedule-critical dependencies.
• Lead project controls, including schedule, budget, scope, change control, procurement status, and executive reporting.
• Coordinate production of engineering packages, including basis of design, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment lists, layouts, utility requirements, safety packages, permitting packages, and cost estimates.
• Own the project data room and diligence package for financing, government funding, customer offtake, and partner decision-making.
• Drive site-selection and site-control workstreams, evaluating candidate sites against engineering, logistics, utilities, permitting, environmental, schedule, and expansion requirements.
• Coordinate long-lead equipment strategy, vendor engagement, EPC bids, and early procurement decisions to accelerate construction and operations.
• Identify and escalate execution risks, especially around permitting, utilities, construction sequencing, vendor lead times, commercial agreements, and technical scope gaps.
• Build an operating cadence that enables a small team to move quickly while maintaining engineering rigor.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical coverage
• Vision coverage
• Dental coverage
• Company 401(k)
• Flexible paid time off (PTO)
• Significant equity compensation aligned with public benchmarks for senior early team members

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior