Sr. Process Engineer

Combined Metals Company, LLC•Elgin, IL

3d•$95,000 - $120,000

About The Position

The Senior Process Engineer provides technical leadership, process development, metallurgical support, and continuous improvement for cold strip mill operations processing nickel, cobalt, and similar high-performance alloy products. The role supports manufacturing, quality, sales, customers, and engineering teams in improving material quality, processing efficiency, manufacturability, and consistency of final properties.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Seven or more years of process engineering, metallurgical engineering, manufacturing engineering, or related experience in a metals manufacturing environment.
Experience with cold strip mill processing of nickel, cobalt, stainless steel, specialty alloys, superalloys, or similar alloyed products.
Strong understanding of cold working, thermal processing, annealing, mechanical property development, surface quality, dimensional control, and strip product manufacturability.
Ability to analyze process and quality data, identify trends, troubleshoot complex manufacturing issues, and implement sustainable corrective actions.
Experience reviewing customer specifications, industry standards, and technical requirements for manufacturability and compliance.
Working knowledge of root cause analysis, corrective action systems, nonconforming material disposition, and continuous improvement methods.
Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively with production, quality, sales, customers, suppliers, and leadership.
Ability to mentor engineers, support cross-functional teams, and lead technical improvement projects.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed, up to approximately 15%.

Nice To Haves

Experience with nickel-cobalt specialty alloys, precision strip, aerospace materials, medical materials, or other high-reliability alloy applications.
Experience with statistical process control, design of experiments, Minitab, JMP, or similar data analysis tools.
Knowledge of furnace controls, pyrometry standards, heat treatment validation, and thermal processing audits.
Experience supporting capital equipment projects, manufacturing trials, customer qualifications, or new product introductions.
Familiarity with quality management systems, customer audits, and industry specifications related to specialty metals processing.

Responsibilities

Lead continuous improvement initiatives to improve material quality, processing efficiency, manufacturability, repeatability, and consistency of mechanical, physical, and metallurgical properties.
Provide technical and metallurgical support for cold rolling, thermal processing, cleaning, slitting, finishing, inspection, and related strip processing operations.
Analyze production, property, disposition, rejection, and nonconformance data to identify undesirable trends, determine root causes, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Support disposition of nonconforming material and lead investigations into process failures, customer complaints, and internal quality concerns.
Review customer and industry specifications to assess processing capability, identify exceptions or deviations, and communicate requirements to internal stakeholders and customers.
Collaborate with sales, quality, manufacturing, and customers to clarify technical requirements, confirm specification options, and support new business opportunities.
Develop, optimize, and maintain standard processes, process routings, operating practices, and technical procedures to ensure material meets customer and industry requirements.
Provide shop-floor technical support to resolve processing issues, improve yield, reduce variation, and maintain production flow.
Use statistical methods, process data, and structured problem-solving tools to monitor process performance and guide improvements.
Provide technical input for capital projects intended to improve manufacturing capability, reliability, safety, and product quality.
Lead and manage customer trials, process trials, and new product development activities, and communicate results as required.
Serve as a technical resource and mentor for Process Engineers and manufacturing personnel, developing their processing knowledge, troubleshooting skills, and understanding of process engineering responsibilities.
Provide technical support to raw material and outside processing suppliers, including issue resolution, capability review, and process improvement.
Maintain working knowledge of pyrometry requirements and support monitoring of production furnace performance and thermal processing compliance.
Perform or support metallographic analysis and interpretation to evaluate material condition, process effectiveness, and failure mechanisms.
Create and present technical information, investigation results, process recommendations, and project updates to all levels of the organization.
Perform additional duties as assigned.