Lead Additive Manufacturing Materials Engineer.

The expected annual salary range for this role is $97000 - $143000 a year.

Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

** This role requires working on-site at our N. Charleston, SC facility. Relocation assistance is available for a qualified candidate currently residing in the USA.

What you'll do:

Job summary

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is an exciting new technology that offers substantial benefits to the Aerospace industry. Eaton Aerospace has leveraged the technology to create superior products and capture profitable growth for the businesses reaching $2.7B LOP in awarded business and multiple Government-funded projects. This has resulted in significant program growth since the inception of AM in the Eaton Aerospace business with 36 awarded parts and 100+ active programs at the Digital Design and Additive Manufacturing Center (DDAMC) located in Charleston SC - 450% growth since 2021. The number of awarded flight hardware metal components is driving the need for more expert roles in the areas of operation and value stream management, manufacturing, materials, process engineering and new product implementation to help set up for the future and avoid issues with today's operation.

This new position will support the Chief Material Engineer as the AM metal expert for DDAMC responsible for providing materials & processes (M&P) support to the manufacturing and engineering personnel of our Aerospace AM Group. The role will be a key materials engineering resource at the Charleston (SC) site to support the on-going development of the AM process and its transition to production. Significant exposure across multiple divisions, sites and product lines.

Job responsibilities

Technical & Process Leadership
• Provide metallurgical technical support for strategic AM modalities such as laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) and electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) technologies for Aerospace applications
• Manage external M&P suppliers including raw material/feedstock, heat treatment, surface finishing, and test labs
• Provide hands-on work to characterize powder feedstock and consolidated materials; creating select lab standards and work instructions; and training support personnel on in-house equipment, maintaining equipment and documentation related to post-processing and material property testing
• Oversee some of the day-to-day operation, maintain a quality system in the materials lab, ensure safe work practices are maintained, and drive future expansion at the facility to add capacity and material characterization capability
• Support or drive the qualification of new, advanced materials/metals and manufacturing processes for high-performance applications such as Aerospace
• Support development and execution of overall M&P strategy that supports the AM Team business strategy to meet growth, cost, and quality targets

Materials Leadership
• Support and/or lead M&P work for new AM processes, implement installation and qualification of new machines needed to grow and sustain AM Group
• Support and own government-funded projects aligned with the AM M&P strategy and in collaboration with the ERL
• Apply a fundamental understanding of heat treatment processes (such as hot isostatic pressing, solution annealing, quench processes, stress-relieving, and artificial aging), industrial surface finishing methods (such as chemical milling, anodizing, chem filming, barrel finishing, and grip blasting), material characterization/metallography techniques (such as light optical and scanning electron microscopy, bulk and microhardness, and image analysis), and mechanical and physical testing methods (such as high-cycle and low-cycle fatigue, tensile, compression, fracture toughness, etc.)
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the interaction of metal feedstock with dynamic PBF and DED processes and the impact of rapid solidification on material properties at the microstructural level
• Monitor and implement AM-related industry specifications, which may include representing Eaton on working groups championing, revising and/or adding key specifications
• Support the design and analysis of Aerospace product requirements, advocate for improvements in product designs of proposed applications to ensure material compliance
• Prepare and issue engineering reports summarizing key results and recommendations
• Attend and support product team reviews for AM products
• Support TRL and MRL owner(s) for all AM projects across the four (4) Aerospace divisions
• Support DDAMC Quality function to define and implement monitoring and control systems (e.g., SPC) for key process variables (KPVs)

Business & Organizational Leadership
• Ability to manage multiple projects/activities; results driven
• Communicate both orally and in writing within and outside of the AM Group and other Aerospace departments and cognizant engineers in a precise, logical, informative, and tactful manner
• Troubleshoot, support, and/or lead material, process and product-related root cause corrective action (RCCA) projects
• Create, manage, and execute on new AM M&P projects established through the Eaton Profit Planning process
• Advocate for AM Continuous Improvement (CI) for LPBF and EB modalities
• Participates as an active member in Rapid Improvement Events (RIE) to eliminate waste and drive standardization
• Strong ethics, values, and the ability to influence others' decision making.

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications:
• Bachelor of Science Degree in Materials/Metallurgical Engineering or Material Science from an accredited institution.
• 5+ years experience in a production setting supporting advanced manufacturing such as metal 3D printing modalities.
• Hands-on experience with material characterization techniques (e.g., metallography, SEM, chemical analysis) and interpretation of results..
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc."
• This position requires use of information or access to hardware which is subject to the "advanced high priority level" International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. Citizens for this role due to Military Defense sensitivity and exposure.
• Candidate will not need sponsorship now or in the future.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Advanced degree (MS, PhD) is a plus.
• Experience with mechanical/material property testing that align with industry specifications
• Experience with statistical analysis to define trends and summarize material property results and process performance/health (familiar with Minitab or equivalent statistical analysis software).

Technical knowledge:
• Provide metallurgical technical support for strategic AM modalities such as laser powder bed fusion (PBF-L) and electron beam powder bed fusion (PBF-EB) technologies for Aerospace applications
• Manage external M&P suppliers including raw material/feedstock, heat treatment, surface finishing, and test labs.
• Provide hands-on work to characterize powder feedstock and consolidated materials; creating select lab standards and work instructions; and training support personnel on in-house equipment, maintaining equipment and documentation related to post-processing and material property testing.
• Oversee some of the day-to-day operation, maintain a quality system in the materials lab, ensure safe work practices are maintained, and drive future expansion at the facility to add capacity and material characterization capability.
• Support or drive the qualification of new, advanced materials/metals and manufacturing processes for high-performance applications such as Aerospace.
• Support development and execution of overall M&P strategy that supports the AM Team business strategy to meet growth, cost, and quality targets.

Skills:
• Expertise with aluminum and titanium AM material systems is preferred.
• Problem-solving methodologies and risk assessment tools (e.g., Six Sigma, 8D, RCCA, PFMEA)
• Proficient in the use of MS Office
• Familiar/experienced with the use of Minitab, FEA software.

All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates' privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.

We know that good benefit programs are important to employees and their families. Eaton provides various Health and Welfare benefits as well as Retirement benefits, and several programs that provide for paid and unpaid time away from work. Click here for more detail: Eaton Benefits Overview. Please note that specific programs and options available to an employee may depend on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.