Materials Engineer

The PAC Group • Rhode Island, RI

8h • $50 - $60 • Onsite

About The Position

This role sits inside Manufacturing and is built to give Design Engineering a strong technical partner on materials — someone who can take on the characterization, benchmarking, and test work needed to bring decision-ready recommendations forward, so Design Engineering's review and sign-off is fast and well-supported. The person in this seat should treat every open material spec as a shared priority and should actively resource the path to closure rather than simply waiting on it.
The material specifications for components like composites, paint, and adhesives should evolve directly alongside equipment procurement and process development. This transparent alignment allows equipment, process, and quality development to move forward smoothly in tandem with material decisions, which eliminates handoff delays between teams and results in clear visibility into open action items and ownership for both Manufacturing Leadership and Design Engineering.
This role focuses on turning engineering requirements into closed, manufacturing-ready specs — it complements Design Engineering's ownership of the vehicle's engineering requirements and trade studies, rather than replacing it. Status tracking is one of the tools this role uses, not the goal in itself; the goal is specs that are closed, correct, and usable on the shop floor.
Reports into Manufacturing leadership. Works in close, ongoing coordination with Design Engineering on open specs, functioning as an embedded materials resource for that partnership. Partners closely with Quality, Manufacturing Engineering, and Supply Chain/Procurement.

Requirements

• Education: BS in Materials Science/Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Experience: 5+ years of hands-on materials engineering experience with composites (prepreg, layup, cure), and at least one of: paints/coatings, structural adhesives, or elastomers/sealants, in an aerospace, marine, automotive, or similar manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated ability to write or close out material specifications, test plans, and qualification reports.
• Comfortable working directly with manufacturing equipment and process constraints (not just lab/design-side materials work).
• Track record of building strong working relationships with design/engineering teams and helping cross-functional decisions reach closure in a fast-moving, resource-constrained environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AFP/composite automation processes, autoclave or out-of-autoclave cure systems, or marine/aerospace-grade paint systems.
• Experience with corrosive and corrosion-resistant materials/treatments in a marine environment (e.g., saltwater exposure, galvanic corrosion mitigation, protective coatings).
• Familiarity with battery pack materials (potting, thermal interface materials, GED benchmarking) or experience partnering with cell/pack suppliers.
• Experience in a low-rate/early-production environment (Block 0-type programs) where specs are still maturing alongside hardware.
• Vendor qualification and supplier management experience for specialty materials.

Responsibilities

• Advance specification closure: Maintain a shared tracker of every open material spec (composites, paint, adhesives, corrosives/corrosion-resistant treatments, potting compounds, sealants, etc.) needed for current manufacturing programs, with owner, next step, and target close date. Bring well-developed, decision-ready technical recommendations to Design Engineering — doing the materials characterization, vendor benchmarking, and test work up front so review and sign-off are as fast and straightforward as possible. Proactively surface and help resolve anything blocking a spec's progress, coordinating with Manufacturing leadership and Design Engineering to line up the right resources and priority.
• Materials engineering: Evaluate and qualify material equivalents and substitutes (e.g., domestic/US-availability alternatives for adhesives and composite systems) against program requirements. Own or support material test plans (mechanical, environmental, GED/benchmarking, etc.) in coordination with suppliers and partners (e.g., LGES on battery-related materials work). Translate design intent into manufacturing-usable specs: cure profiles, layup/paint process windows, corrosive material handling and exposure/storage requirements, incoming inspection criteria.
• Manufacturing enablement: Partner with Manufacturing Engineering on how material properties and process windows drive equipment selection (AFP, autoclave/oven, paint booths, CNC, etc.) and cell/line design. Define quality acceptance criteria and inspection methods tied to each material spec so Quality can build conformance processes without waiting on Design. Support make/buy and vendor qualification decisions for material suppliers.
• Cross-functional partnership: Serve as the dedicated point of contact between Manufacturing and Design Engineering on materials topics, keeping the cadence moving and both sides aligned on priority and status. Build enough technical depth and trust with Design Engineering to take on lower-risk specs directly with their sign-off, so their time is freed up for the highest-value engineering decisions.

What This Job Offers

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