Plant Metallurgist

Reports to: Foundry Manager (dotted line to Quality)

Type: Full-time, on-site (day shift with occasional off-shift support)

About the role

You’ll own the metallurgy of our melt and cast operations. From charge makeup and inoculation through lab testing and PPAPs, you’ll keep gray/ductile iron within spec, reduce scrap, and coach the floor on best practices.

What you’ll do

Melt & chemistry control

• Set and maintain charge calculations (returns, scrap, pig, alloys) for cupola/induction.
• Control C, Si, Mn, S, P and carbon equivalent; manage de‑S, inoculation, and Mg treatment to achieve nodularity and chill targets.
• Define process windows for superheat, holding time, ladle/slag practices, and treatment recovery.

Metallurgy lab & compliance

• Run/oversee OES spectrometer, C/S analyzer, thermal analysis, hardness (HBW), tensile (ASTM A370/E8), and metallography per ASTM A247.
• Maintain calibrations, procedures, and LIMS/records; ensure material traceability and test coupon compliance.
• Author and maintain melt practice SOPs and control plans; support ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 and customer audits.

Quality & problem solving

• Lead root‑cause (8D), PFMEA, and SPC for metallurgical scrap (carbides, shrink, porosity, graphite morphology, pearlite/ferrite balance).
• Drive corrective/preventive actions with Foundry/Pattern/Sand teams; verify effectiveness with data.
• Partner with Maintenance on furnace/ladle reliability and with Sand on metal–mold interactions.

New products & customer support

• Review specs (ASTM A48/A536 and customer‑specific), set acceptance criteria, and complete PPAPs (capability, control plans, MSA).
• Provide metallurgical feasibility for gating/feeding and heat treatment where applicable; support NDT requirements.

Training & leadership

• Train melt operators, pourers, and lab techs on sampling, treatment windows, and visual standards.
• Publish daily melt reports and lead cross‑shift metallurgical review.

What you’ll bring

• B.S. in Metallurgical/Materials Engineering (Mechanical/Chemical considered).
• Open to new graduates who are eager to grow and learn
• Green‑sand/core knowledge
• Knowledge of inoculation/Mg treatment, thermal analysis, chill control, and microstructure targets.
• Comfortable with SPC/Minitab or similar, PPAP/IATF 16949, and customer specs.
• Strong communicator who thrives on the floor and in the lab; able to influence across shifts.

Nice to have

• MAGMA/SOLIDCast (or similar) exposure
• NDT familiarity
• Six Sigma Green Belt
• Automotive experience

KPIs you’ll own

• First‑time‑right chemistry hit rate
• Metallurgical scrap rate and cost/ton
• Lab turnaround time & calibration adherence
• PPAP on‑time/first‑pass yield
• Melt yield and alloy consumption variance