Director, Capital Projects in Toronto

Cyclic Materials™ is building a resilient circular supply chain for rare earth elements and other critical materials. Through our proprietary MagCycle℠ and REEPure℠ processes, we recover rare earths from end‑of‑life products and transform them into high purity materials used in the production of permanent magnets. These materials are critical to the modern economy, including the production of electric vehicles, electronics, AI infrastructure, wind turbines, defense, and advanced manufacturing technologies.

Founded in 2021, Cyclic Materials has rapidly progressed from technology development to commercialization. We currently operate facilities in Ontario and Arizona, with a new expansion underway in South Carolina. Backed by US$75 million in Series C financing led by T. Rowe Price, alongside strategic investors including Microsoft, Amazon, Hitachi Ventures, BMW i Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion fund, Energy Impact Partners, ArcTern Ventures, and Fifth Wall, we are scaling to meet growing global demand for a secure and sustainable rare earth supply.

We have established commercial partnerships with global industry leaders such as Solvay, Vattenfall, Lime, and VACUUMSCHMELZE, enabling the deployment of recycled rare earth materials into real world supply chains. In 2025, Cyclic Materials was named one of the Top 10 Climate Tech Companies to Watch by MIT Technology Review.

We are growing quickly and building the industrial backbone required for a circular rare earth economy. Joining Cyclic Materials means working on complex and exciting challenges at scale, alongside a team committed to executing and delivering measurable impact. If you are motivated by building critical infrastructure and advancing the circular economy, join us and help accelerate the growth of rare earth recycling.

The Director, Capital Projects leads domestic and international capital projects for rare earth element recycling and recovery, from planning and site selection through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start‑up, and operational handover. Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Capital Projects, Engineering & Procurement, this role ensures projects are delivered safely, on time, within scope, and on budget while meeting technical, commercial, regulatory, and strategic objectives.

The ideal candidate brings strong leadership, strategic planning, contract negotiation, engineering, and cross‑functional execution experience in a global industrial environment, with the ability to navigate complex technical, commercial, regulatory, legal, and cultural challenges in a fast‑paced start‑up setting. The role follows a hybrid work model, with 4 days per week in the office and 1 day per week working from home. Domestic and international travel is expected to be approximately 40%, including travel to project sites, engineering offices, vendor facilities, construction locations, partner facilities, commissioning sites, and potential new facility locations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead global capital projects from initiation through completion, ensuring alignment with company strategy, growth objectives, technical requirements, and commercial priorities.
• Oversee complex plant development initiatives, including planning, site selection, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start‑up, and operational handover.
• Define scope, deliverables, timelines, budgets, resources, execution plans, governance, risks, and performance metrics with internal and external stakeholders.
• Deliver multiple capital initiatives safely, on time, within scope, and within budget in a matrixed global organization.
• Support scopes of work for new plant builds, expansions, upgrades, and technology deployments.
• Oversee bespoke physical and chemical processing plants for rare earth element recycling and recovery.
• Coordinate with engineering, operations, environmental, procurement, legal, finance, strategic partnerships, corporate development, and commercial teams to ensure safe, scalable, and commercially viable plant designs.
• Assess technologies that improve efficiency, recovery, throughput, safety, reliability, environmental performance, and operating costs while ensuring constructability, operability, maintainability, process safety, and commissioning readiness.
• Lead land and site selection for new facilities, including technical, commercial, logistical, environmental, utility, infrastructure, permitting, and regulatory assessments.
• Develop and apply site assessment criteria for greenfield and brownfield opportunities.
• Coordinate with legal, finance, engineering, environmental, and local advisors to support due diligence, acquisition, leasing, and development decisions.
• Lead contract negotiation for engineering, procurement, construction, equipment supply, installation, commissioning, consulting, service, and vendor agreements.
• Partner with legal, procurement, finance, and executive leadership to structure agreements that protect company interests and support successful delivery.
• Evaluate and oversee contractors, suppliers, technology partners, trades, and subcontractors for capability, terms, schedules, risks, and performance.
• Establish project governance, including stage‑gate reviews, executive reporting, decision logs, change control, budget tracking, schedule monitoring, and performance dashboards.
• Identify and mitigate risks related to technology readiness, engineering, permitting, contractors, supply chain, cost, schedule, site conditions, logistics, and regulatory requirements.
• Develop contingency plans and corrective actions for emerging project risks.
• Coordinate effectively with internal teams, external partners, engineering firms, contractors, suppliers, regulators, authorities, and key stakeholders.
• Foster a high‑performance, accountable, safety‑focused, and results‑oriented project environment.
• Champion a safety‑first culture across site selection, engineering, construction, installation, commissioning, and start‑up.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, laws, regulations, permitting requirements, environmental standards, occupational health and safety requirements, and best practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline; Chemical, Mechanical, Metallurgical, Materials, Process, Industrial, or Environmental Engineering preferred.
• 12–15+ years leading global or large‑scale industrial capital projects, preferably in chemical processing, metals, recycling, mining, critical minerals, rare earths, battery materials, specialty chemicals, or advanced manufacturing.
• Experience managing multiple projects across regions, time zones, regulatory environments, stakeholder groups, and matrixed global organizations.
• Demonstrated expertise in budgeting, scheduling, contract negotiation, stakeholder coordination, risk mitigation, and project governance.
• Experience with rare earths, critical minerals, hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, solvent extraction, precipitation, chemical refining, metal recovery, e‑waste recycling, battery recycling, or industrial waste valorization.
• Experience developing first‑of‑kind, next‑of‑kind, modular, or repeatable plant designs and supporting pilot‑to‑commercial scale‑up.
• Experience with EPC, EPCM, design‑build, owner‑led delivery, equipment vendor‑led delivery, and partner‑led construction models.
• Strong leadership, strategic planning, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, commercial judgment, and contract negotiation ability.
• Fluency in English required; additional languages are an asset.

Why You Will Love Cyclic Materials

• We offer a competitive compensation package including Health and Dental coverage, RRSP (Canada)/ 401K (USA) contributions and a generous paid time off program that lets you recharge.
• We value diversity and are committed to maintaining a workplace where everyone is respected and recognized for their contributions.
• As an Equal Opportunity employer, Cyclic Materials is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where all individuals have an opportunity to succeed.