Senior Ceramic Shell Process Manufacturing Engineer

RTX•Asheville, NC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

Pratt & Whitney is investing at least $400 million through 2030 in a world-class turbine airfoil production facility in Asheville, North Carolina. The new, 1,000,000-square-foot facility will house an advanced casting foundry for the production of turbine airfoils as well as conducting machining, coating and finishing of airfoils onsite. This state-of-the-art facility will also implement best-in-class manufacturing technologies and processes exemplifying industry 4.0 manufacturing principles and will complement existing turbine airfoil work that is done across Pratt & Whitney’s facilities. The Foundry Manufacturing Engineering team within the Asheville site is seeking an experienced and motivated Sr. Ceramic Process Manufacturing Engineer to support development and qualification of new processes to meet or exceed delivery and quality targets, while assisting in manufacturing readiness for these processes at the Asheville, NC site. The candidate must demonstrate technical project management, interpersonal and team skills, as well as strong communication skills and the ability to multi-task and adapt to changing business requirements. This position will be based on-site in Asheville.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Ceramic Engineering, Materials Science, or Metallurgy specifically focused on investment casting shell systems for nickel‑based superalloys. (Experience in structural ceramics, glass, refractories, tile, cement, or non‑casting-related ceramics will not be considered.)
Minimum of 8 years of hands-on experience in aerospace investment casting of single-crystal or directionally solidified nickel superalloys.
An Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5+ years' experience
Strong Project Engineering/Planning and Communication/Presentation skills are a must for this position.
US Person Status required due to government contracts.
Demonstrated expertise in building, qualifying, and controlling multi‑layer ceramic shell systems using fused alumina and silica‑free binders for reactive superalloys.
Strong knowledge in alumina ceramics, silica-free binders, and shell-build processes supporting casting reactive metal superalloys.
Experience transferring shell‑build processes from development labs into full-rate production environments.
Experience with laboratory testing procedures and ceramic raw material qualification.
Six Sigma green belt or equivalent.
US Citizen status required.
Demonstrated knowledge of managing technology development tasks, formulating and leading teams to achieve results, and estimating and controlling budgets.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience launching or running shell rooms at industry leading competitive aerospace investment casting foundries.
Six Sigma black belt or equivalent.
Master’s’ degree in Engineering or related technical field.
15 or more years of experience in ceramic shell process.
Familiarity with robotic programming and process automation.
Broad knowledge of the aerospace industry and experience in turbine engine parts manufacturing.

Responsibilities

Lead development of shell systems supporting single‑crystal nickel alloys.
Ensure shell integrity through mold preheat, prime slurry rheology control, backup coat permeability, and autoclave dewax parameters specifically tuned for SX casting.
Collaborate with solidification engineers to ensure shell compatibility with crystallographic requirements and withdrawal profiles.
Plan and execute new shell line start up for single crystal airfoil casting process.
Lead development of shell line production processes, work instructions, quality and regulatory requirements, transitioning a proprietary shell line from the Hartford, CT development laboratory and installing, starting up, debugging, and launching a fully functional production shell line inside the Asheville facility.
Develop and deploy standardized engineering practices, processes, tools, and methods.
Implement and execute engineering changes to meet customer and financial requirements.
Ensure MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Level) of new processes aligns to program requirements as hardware transitions from development to production during launch and subsequent volume ramp by identifying and mitigating development program manufacturing risks.
Pursue operational excellence as subject matter expert for foundry ceramic processes; Drive product cost reduction and ensure targets are achieved through data driven process improvements and deployment of new technologies.
Develop and Mentor others through standard work, best practices, and risk mitigation.