Metallurgy Engineer

About Maaden

Maaden, founded in 1997, is among the world’s fastest-expanding mining businesses and the Middle East’s largest diversified mining and metals group. The company is advancing Saudi Arabia’s mining sector into a major economic pillar by creating an integrated, world-class mining value chain.

This opportunity is part of Maaden’s growth journey and offers the chance to contribute to the future of mining in the Kingdom.

Role Overview

Job Title: Metallurgy Engineer
Business Unit: MAADEN Aluminum
Department: Recycling – Production & Quality Engineering
Location: Ras Al Khair, Eastern Saudi Arabia
Working Hours: 8 hours

Posting Window: 24 June 2026 to 8 July 2026

Job Purpose

The Metallurgy Engineer will create, standardize, and continuously refine metallurgical and operational methods across aluminum recycling, melting, alloying, casting, and downstream activities. The role focuses on improving process performance, product quality, metal recovery, energy efficiency, safety, and sustainability while serving as the technical lead for process methodology. It also supports commissioning, ramp-up, troubleshooting, and ongoing improvement efforts across the plant.

Key Responsibilities

Health, Safety, Risk, and Sustainability

• Encourage safe work practices and strengthen process safety awareness.
• Ensure adherence to environmental rules and internal standards.
• Support programs aimed at lowering energy use, CO₂ emissions, waste, and dross output.
• Contribute to ESG and recycled-content reporting needs.

Process Method Development and Standardization

• Create, update, and improve operating methods for scrap receiving, preparation, sorting, upgrading, charging, melting, holding furnaces, alloying, metal treatment, fluxing, dross handling, billet and slab casting, homogenization, and product handling.
• Build SOPs, work instructions, and process standards.
• Align methods with industry best practices and operational excellence expectations.
• Lead optimization work to improve yield, recovery, productivity, product quality, energy usage, furnace performance, and environmental results.

Technical Support and Continuous Improvement

• Assist production, maintenance, and quality teams with technical issues.
• Study process data to identify improvement opportunities.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions for quality issues, metal losses, process instability, productivity shortfalls, and furnace abnormalities.
• Apply Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and other continuous improvement tools.
• Conduct process capability and benchmarking studies.

Aluminum Recycling Expertise

• Design methods for handling scrap streams such as post-industrial scrap, post-consumer scrap, UBC, tense, twitch, mixed scrap, prime aluminum feed, internal returns, and process scrap.
• Improve metal recovery, scrap blending, contamination control, salt slag and dross reduction, and recycled-content performance.
• Support circular economy and sustainability initiatives.

Furnace and Melting Operations

• Provide technical direction for tilting melting furnaces, side well furnaces, holding furnaces, de-coating furnaces, and launder/molten metal transfer systems.
• Improve charging methods, burner tuning, combustion efficiency, heat transfer, fuel consumption, refractory life, shell temperature monitoring, and furnace campaign management.

Casting Methodology

• Develop and refine practices for DC billet casting, DC slab casting, grain refining, alloy additions, degassing, filtration, casting parameter optimization, water cooling, butt curl control, surface quality improvement, and defect reduction.
• Diagnose and resolve casting issues such as cracks, bleeds, segregation, inclusions, surface defects, and porosity.

Product Quality and Metallurgy

• Ensure output meets product specifications and customer expectations.
• Support production of 3xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx series alloys.
• Work with laboratory and quality teams on chemical composition control, inclusion cleanliness, hydrogen control, and macro/microstructure assessment.

Projects and Commissioning

• Take part in FEED and detailed engineering reviews, HAZOP sessions, FAT and SAT activities, equipment acceptance testing, commissioning, start-up, and ramp-up optimization.
• Review process guarantees and vendor documents.
• Support technology transfer and deployment of new equipment and systems.

Data Analytics and Digitalization

• Use statistical tools and process historians to analyze production data.
• Build KPI dashboards covering yield, recovery, furnace efficiency, energy intensity, scrap usage, and product quality.
• Support digital transformation and Industry initiatives.

Qualifications and Experience

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. A master’s degree is preferred.

Experience: 10 to 15 years in aluminum production and recycling, including work in secondary aluminum recycling plants, casthouse operations, melting and holding furnaces, billet and slab casting, process engineering, methodology development, commissioning/start-up projects, and continuous improvement or operational excellence programs.

Experience with major aluminum producers such as ALBA, Hydro, Novelis, Rio Tinto, or Emirates Global Aluminum is considered highly desirable.

Core Competencies

Maaden’s high-performance expectations for this role include ethical leadership, technical expertise, safety leadership, team leadership and development, communication and collaboration, and a strong quality focus.

Skills

• Aluminum metallurgy
• Scrap sorting and recycling processes
• Furnace operations and combustion systems
• Alloy chemistry and metal treatment
• Billet and slab casting
• Yield and recovery improvement
• Dross and salt slag control
• Process automation and controls
• Statistical process analysis
• Root cause analysis
• Lean manufacturing
• Six Sigma
• Quality management systems
• Environmental and sustainability compliance

Additional Information

This role is based in Ras Al Khair, Eastern Saudi Arabia, and follows an 8-hour working day.