What are the responsibilities and job description for the Engineering Technician & Project Coordinator - Materials & Production position at Advanced Ceramic Fibers LLC?
Job Title: Engineering Technician & Project Coordinator – Materials & Production
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho (on-site)
Company: Advanced Ceramic Fibers, LLC
Employment Type: Full-Time
Schedule: Four 10-hour days, Monday–Thursday (Fridays off)
Pay:52k – 62k per year
Benefits: PTO, Holiday, Colonial Life Insurance
Relocation: Not available
Start: Soon as practical
Eligibility: U.S. persons only (ITAR/CUI position)
About Us:
Advanced Ceramic Fibers, LLC (ACF) is an award-winning advanced materials company in Idaho Falls developing high-performance ceramic fibers and composites for extreme environments. Our patented Direct Conversion Process™ (DCP) transforms commercial carbon fiber into Fi-Bar™, a metal carbide/carbon core fiber, with silicon carbide as our principal system along with tantalum carbide and hafnium carbide. Fi-Bar™ is built for hypersonics, space, defense, nuclear, and power generation applications where conventional fibers and metals fail, and our development work is supported by U.S. Navy and DARPA programs.
The Opportunity:
We are looking for a hands-on Engineering Technician & Project Coordinator who likes variety and wants to help scale a new materials technology. You will help manage our materials science and engineering projects with customers, keeping scope, schedule, budget, and risks on track, and you will also work hands-on producing Fi-Bar™ on our DCP furnace lines and supporting R&D, from building test fixtures and running experiments to preparing samples and shipping product.
ACF is a small, fast-moving company, so you will work side by side with our engineers and scientists, learn our process, equipment, and customer programs in depth, and take on more responsibility as you grow.
Key Responsibilities:
Production & Engineering Support
- Operate and monitor DCP furnace lines to produce Fi-Bar™, following run procedures and recording process data for every run
- Prepare carbon fiber materials and process consumables for production runs, and load, unload, inspect, measure, label, and package finished product
- Perform preventive maintenance on furnaces, vacuum and gas systems, pumps, and spooling equipment, and troubleshoot and repair problems
- Build and modify test fixtures, rigs, and prototype setups for R&D projects, including mechanical assembly, gas and vacuum plumbing, and low-voltage wiring
- Prepare samples and support testing and characterization, including mechanical testing, microscopy, and other analytical measurements
- Keep process and test data complete and traceable, and write and update work instructions, run logs, procedures, and quality records
- Handle shipping and receiving of materials, samples, and product, track inventory, and order supplies, following export-control procedures for controlled items
- Keep the lab and shop clean, organized, and safe, including process gas cylinders, chemical inventory, and Safety Data Sheets
Project Coordination
- Help plan projects by breaking scope into tasks, building and maintaining schedules, and tracking milestones and deliverables
- Support project lead in managing project budgets and spending against plan, including labor hours, materials, and purchases, and flag variances early
- Identify, log, and follow up on project risks and issues, and help the team carry out plans to address them
- Coordinate work across the engineering and production team, vendors, and customers so materials, equipment, and people are ready when needed
- Help prepare status updates, reports, and deliverables for customers and government sponsors, and keep project records organized, including ITAR/CUI documents
What You’ll Gain:
- Hands-on applied advanced materials Engineering experience with training on ultra-high-temperature furnaces, vacuum and gas systems, process instrumentation, and materials testing that few roles offer
- Project management experience on real customer programs, from scope and schedule through budget and risk, combined with hands-on technical work
- Room to grow with the company as Fi-Bar™ production and customer programs scale
- Experience working on defense and aerospace technology under ITAR and CUI controls
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering technology, materials science, chemical engineering, or a physical science, or equivalent experience, including military technical training
- Two or more years of experience in a lab, manufacturing, production, or equipment maintenance setting ideally working with Carbon/Carbon Fiber based materials
- Experience supporting projects: building schedules, tracking tasks and budgets, following up on open items, and keeping work on track
- Mechanical aptitude: able to assemble, troubleshoot, maintain, and repair equipment, read basic drawings and schematics, and work with low-voltage wiring and instrumentation such as sensors, thermocouples, and controllers
- Strong Excel skills and careful, consistent record keeping
- Clear written and verbal communication with customers and the team
- Organized and detail-oriented; follows procedures and raises problems early
- High personal integrity, since accurate and honest data handling is essential to our work and to operating in a regulated environment
- Respect for lab and shop safety; able to lift 50 lbs and stand for long periods
Preferred:
- Experience with government contracts, such as SBIR/STTR or other DoD programs, including reporting and deliverables
- Experience with high-temperature furnaces, vacuum systems, inert gas handling, or thermal processing
- Experience handling carbon fiber, composites, textiles, or ceramics
- Project management training or certification (such as CAPM or PMP) and experience with scheduling tools such as Microsoft Project or Smartsheet
- Production experience under a quality system (such as ISO 9001 or AS9100) with work instructions and traceability
Additional Requirements:
This position requires access to ITAR/EAR-controlled technical data and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), so ACF can only accept applications from U.S. persons as defined by ITAR (22 CFR 120.62): U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), refugees, or asylees. Employment is contingent on verifying U.S. person status.
Successful completion of a background check and drug test is required before employment.
ACF is an Equal Opportunity Employer – M/F/D/V
Living in Idaho Falls:
Idaho Falls is home to Idaho National Laboratory and offers an outstanding quality of life for outdoor enthusiasts, and with Fridays off you will have a three-day weekend every week to enjoy it. Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole are about 2 hours away, and Sun Valley and Salt Lake City are about 3 hours away. World-class skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, and vast wilderness areas are right in your backyard.
To Apply: Email your resume to [email address] with the subject line “Engineering Technician & Project Coordinator – Your Name.” In a short email, please tell us:
- One project you helped coordinate, and how you kept it on schedule and budget
- One piece of equipment you maintained, repaired, or built, and what you did
- Your earliest start date
Salary : $52,000 - $62,000