Metallurgical / Materials Engineer

Position summary

Hestia Heat Treat is creating a new Metallurgical / Materials Engineer role to establish and lead technical metallurgical excellence across its commercial heat-treating operations in Racine, Wisconsin. This is a newly defined position reflecting Hestia's growth strategy and commitment to technical depth in process control, quality assurance, and customer support.

Reporting directly to Hestia's President (who brings nearly 40 years of heat-treating expertise and serves as the company's technical and economic leader), this role will establish metallurgical ownership, process capability, and technical problem-solving across batch, induction, vacuum, and nitriding processes. The successful candidate will translate advanced metallurgical knowledge into measurable improvements in quality consistency, production throughput, and cost per pound—positioning Hestia for sustainable growth and competitive advantage in the commercial heat treat market.

This newly created position represents Hestia's investment in technical infrastructure and signals a strategic shift toward documented, scalable metallurgical practices that reduce key-person risk while enhancing customer confidence and operational performance.

Key responsibilities

Process and metallurgical ownership

• Develop, validate, and maintain heat treat recipes and process windows for major product families (batch, induction, vacuum, nitriding) to meet customer specifications for hardness, case depth, microstructure, and distortion.

• Lead troubleshooting of furnace and process issues, including nonconformances, distortion, and variability, using metallurgical principles to drive corrective and preventive actions.

• Collaborate with operations and maintenance to optimize load configuration, cycle design, quenching practice, and furnace utilization.

Quality, certifications, and customer interface

• Support and enhance Hestia’s ISO 9001 quality system, including procedures, work instructions, and metallurgical documentation.

• Lead metallurgical aspects of industry certifications including procedure development, qualification runs, and ongoing compliance.

• Provide direct technical support to customers: review prints and specifications, recommend appropriate heat treat processes, and participate in APQP / PPAP or equivalent customer approval activities as needed.

Data, economics, and continuous improvement

• Use furnace and lab data (scrap/rework, energy per pound, dollars per furnace-hour, yields) to prioritize and execute improvement projects aligned with company objectives.

• Partner with Glenn to quantify the economic impact of process changes (energy, insurance, scrap, rework, throughput) and support monthly performance reviews.

• Support cost reduction and optimization initiatives.

Lab management and technical standards

• Oversee day-to-day metallurgical lab work: hardness testing, microstructural evaluation, sample preparation, and basic failure analysis.

• Maintain calibration and basic maintenance of lab equipment; coordinate external services when required.

• Create and maintain metallurgical standards, guidelines, and troubleshooting guides that capture Glenn’s experience and reduce key-person risk over time.

Sales and customer support

• Provide technical input for sales quotations by reviewing customer drawings, material specifications, and performance requirements to ensure accurate process selection, pricing assumptions, and risk assessment. • Partner with sales and operations to evaluate the technical feasibility of new work, including alloy suitability, process capability, capacity constraints, and potential qualification requirements.

• Participate in customer discussions as the technical subject-matter expert when needed, supporting new business development, process alignment, and long-term customer relationships.

• Assist in defining scope, assumptions, and technical boundaries for new programs to reduce downstream quality, rework, and margin risk.

• Support trial runs, first-article approvals, and customer qualifications associated with new or expanded business.

Training and knowledge transfer

• Deliver practical training for supervisors, operators, and quality staff on heat treat fundamentals, metallurgical behavior, and interpretation of customer specifications.

• Document best practices and lessons learned in clear, operator-friendly formats to ensure consistency across shifts.

Candidate Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Metallurgy, Materials Science & Engineering, or closely related engineering discipline (required).

• Minimum 3 years of hands-on experience in commercial heat treating (job-shop or captive), including atmosphere and/or vacuum processes; nitriding or induction experience strongly preferred.

• Strong working knowledge of ferrous metallurgy, phase transformations, case hardening (carburizing, carbonitriding, nitriding), quench media/equipment, and microstructural interpretation.

• Demonstrated ability to interpret engineering drawings and customer specifications, including heat treat callouts, material standards, hardness and case depth requirements.

• Experience working within an audited quality management system (e.g., ISO 9001); familiarity with customer audits and corrective action processes.

• Proficiency with common metallurgical test and analysis tools (hardness testers, metallographic sample preparation, optical microscopy, and basic data analysis in Excel or similar tools).

• Strong analytical, hands-on problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate effectively with shop personnel, customers, and leadership.

• Ability to work full-time on-site in Racine, WI, with occasional flexibility for off-shift support during trials, customer emergencies, or critical furnace events