Sr. Process Engineer

Combined Metals is a premier North American processor and distributor of specialty strip and wire built through 50 years of growth and acquisition. Combined Metals is the largest independent processor and distributor of specialty strip and wire in North America. With nine service centers, Combined Metals supports 3,000 customers in the Aerospace, Defense, Nuclear, Medical, Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, Electrification, Automotive, and Consumer industries. Decades of quality and reliability have made Combined Metals a chosen source in performance applications.

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

Responsibilities:

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on improved 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 effective 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 determine processing capability, identify exceptions or deviations, and communicate requirements clearly to internal stakeholders and customers.
• Work closely 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 process improvements.
• Support capital projects by providing technical input to improve manufacturing capability, reliability, safety, and product quality.
• Lead and manage customer trials, process trials, and new product development activities; communicate results internally and externally as required.
• Serve as a technical resource and mentor for Process Engineers and manufacturing personnel, helping develop processing knowledge, troubleshooting skills, and understanding of process engineering responsibilities.
• Provide technical support for raw material suppliers 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 as needed 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.

Required Qualifications:

• 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.
• Demonstrated 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 with the ability to work effectively with production, quality, sales, customers, suppliers, and leadership.
• Proven 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%.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 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.

Core Competencies:

• Technical leadership in specialty metals processing
• Strong metallurgical and process troubleshooting capability
• Data-driven decision making and statistical analysis
• Customer-focused technical communication
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Project leadership and execution
• Mentorship and development of engineering talent