SVP of Engineering

VP / SVP of Engineering

Confidential client. Search led by VoltForce.

About the job

We are working with a critical-materials company on the search for a VP / SVP of Engineering to stand up their U.S. engineering bench, take their hydrometallurgical purification and refinement process for critical minerals and rare earths from validated pilot into commercial-scale deployment, and lead the design, build, and commissioning of co-located facilities at strategic mining, battery, and recycling sites across North America.

Location: Remote (United States), with regular travel to project sites, the company's pilot facility, and its U.S. office
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Direct Reports: Process Engineer, Project Engineer, and R&D team, with scale-up as deployments grow

About the company

Our client is commercializing its hydrometallurgical process for the purification and refinement of critical minerals and rare earths, working across both newly mined ore and recycled feedstocks to help close the loop on a circular domestic supply chain.

They have a validated pilot facility and active engagement with U.S. federal critical-materials programs. Their process runs on a wide range of feedstocks, from mining concentrates to recycling streams, and their commercial model is to co-locate (or nearly co-locate) refining facilities directly alongside the feedstock: next to mines, battery plants, and recycling operations. They go where the feedstock is and plug purification and refining capacity into the infrastructure that already exists, rather than shipping material offshore for smelting. They are now moving from pilot validation into first commercial deployment, and this role owns that transition.

Your mission (first 12 months)

         •        Build the North American engineering function. Stand up the bench (Process Engineer, Project Engineer, R&D team and beyond), define the engineering operating model, and establish the standards, documentation, and IP discipline that will support deployment after deployment.

         •        Translate technology to product. Take the pilot-validated purification and refinement process and produce a commercial-scale, modular refining line design package, engineered, costed, and ready to drop into a partner site.

         •        Anchor a first commercial deployment. Partner with a mining, battery, or refining operator to scope, design, cost, and commission the company's first co-located commercial refining facility.

         •        Carry the engineering voice externally. Represent the company's technical credibility to government stakeholders, mining majors, refining partners, and capital sources.

Responsibilities

         •        Own the end-to-end engineering function for U.S. refining-facility design, build, and commissioning

         •        Translate pilot data into commercial-scale process and facility design packages

         •        Lead site integration with partner operators, EPC selection, vendor management, and capital project execution

         •        Manage and grow the North American engineering team; recruit, mentor, and structure the function

         •        Partner closely with the company's laboratory team on continuous process optimization and third-party projects

         •        Represent engineering in government, customer, partner, and investor conversations

         •        Build the documentation, IP, and replication-ready engineering playbook so each subsequent refining facility deploys faster and cleaner than the last

         •        Ensure safety, environmental, and regulatory compliance across North American operations

Must-Have Qualifications

         •        10+ years of progressive engineering experience in hydrometallurgical critical-materials processing, with at least 5 years at the Director/VP level

         •        Hands-on experience with the designing and commissioning of at least one commercial-scale hydrometallurgical refining or processing facility (battery materials, base metals, rare earths, or similar)

         •        Proven ability to carry a process through the full lifecycle: pilot, FEED, detailed design, construction, commissioning, and ramp

         •        Deep working knowledge of hydromet unit operations: leaching, solvent extraction, ion exchange, precipitation, crystallization, filtration, and effluent management

         •        Track record managing EPC partners and multi-million-dollar capital projects

         •        Working knowledge of U.S. permitting, environmental, and safety frameworks for chemical and refining facilities (EPA, OSHA, applicable state and local)

         •        Comfort and credibility as the senior engineering voice in government, customer, and capital-partner-facing conversations

         •        Advanced degree in Chemical, Metallurgical, or Process Engineering, or equivalent operational track record

         •        Willingness to travel regularly to partner sites, the company's pilot facility, and its U.S. office

Nice-to-have

         •        Experience designing and integrating co-located, modular, or distributed refining or processing lines into existing operator footprints

         •        Battery materials, cathode, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, or rare-earth refining experience

         •        Familiarity with U.S. federal critical-materials grants, contracting, and reporting frameworks

         •        Prior experience at a venture-backed or grant-funded scale-up

         •        Network across U.S. mining, refining, and EPC ecosystems

         •        Professional Engineer (PE) license

What our client offers

         •        Direct ownership of a mission-critical commercialization effort: bringing circular critical-materials capacity to North America by plugging purification and refining into existing mining, battery, and recycling infrastructure

         •        Founding-team-style scope. Build the engineering function, the team, and the deployment playbook from the ground up

         •        Remote-first U.S. role with meaningful travel to partner sites and the company's pilot facility

         •        Meaningful equity participation

         •        A seat at the table on company strategy, partner selection, and capital deployment