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Metal engineers

How to become a Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Engineer

Also called: Rolling development engineer, Metal smelting development engineer, Alloy development engineer, Forging development engineer, Casting development engineer, Foundry development engineer, Electrorefining development engineer, Converter operator (steelmaking)

Develops and improves methods for refining non-ferrous metals, and manages production as the supervisor of shop-floor workers.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school or university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular qualification is required to start, but most people have a university or postgraduate degree, often in metallurgy, materials engineering, chemistry or chemical engineering. Some are high school graduates. There is also mid-career recruitment, but because the work is highly specialised, many mid-career hires have experience in factory operations management or technical development. Mid-career hires are usually placed in research and development, analysis or production engineering, where they can use their expertise. For the first 2 to 3 years, you build specialist skills and business skills through on-the-job and off-the-job training. On the job, you are given your own tasks and learn how a company makes things, guided by senior staff. Off the job, you follow a training programme to learn business skills such as presentation and logical thinking, solve real problems at a practical level, and complete set training. After that, many people move from shop-floor foreman to supervisor and then into management roles such as department manager or plant manager. There is also training for each level, where you may learn team management, compliance and management skills. For certain roles, such as factory manager, licences and qualifications such as pollution control manager or certified energy manager are required. As well as specialist knowledge, you need a high level of knowledge and expertise in quality control, health and safety, care for the environment, process control, and managing and supervising the shop floor.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Engineer?

No particular qualification is required to start, but most people have a university or postgraduate degree, often in metallurgy, materials engineering, chemistry or chemical engineering. Some are high school graduates. There is also mid-career recruitment, but because the work is highly specialised, many mid-career hires have experience in factory operations management or technical development. Mid-career hires are usually placed in research and development, analysis or production engineering, where they can use their expertise. For the first 2 to 3 years, you build specialist skills and business skills through on-the-job and off-the-job training. On the job, you are given your own tasks and learn how a company makes things, guided by senior staff. Off the job, you follow a training programme to learn business skills such as presentation and logical thinking, solve real problems at a practical level, and complete set training. After that, many people move from shop-floor foreman to supervisor and then into management roles such as department manager or plant manager. There is also training for each level, where you may learn team management, compliance and management skills. For certain roles, such as factory manager, licences and qualifications such as pollution control manager or certified energy manager are required. As well as specialist knowledge, you need a high level of knowledge and expertise in quality control, health and safety, care for the environment, process control, and managing and supervising the shop floor.

How much does a Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Engineer earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥6,069,300 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare).

Do you need a degree to become a Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Engineer?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 67% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Non-Ferrous Metal Smelting Engineer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026