Senior Manager, Quality Systems Engineering

Divergent•Torrance, CA

1d•$174,050 - $239,320•Onsite

About The Position

Divergent's Quality Systems Engineering organization exists to make how Divergent works explicit, followed, and provable. The Senior Manager, Quality Systems Engineering leads that organization — owning the Enterprise Quality Management System that defines the company's processes and driving the systemic gaps that surface to closure. The role carries a build mandate alongside that stewardship: leading the development and direction of the Digital Quality Management System (DQMS), Divergent's internally developed platform for bringing part quality information into a single digital thread. It is accountable for the certifications that qualify Divergent to deliver into aerospace and automotive programs, and for the team that keeps the system honest.

Requirements

Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline
8+ years of experience in quality engineering or quality systems in a manufacturing environment
3+ years of experience leading and developing a team, including direct people management
Demonstrated ownership of a Quality Management System in a regulated or certified manufacturing environment, including responsibility for its documentation structure
Experience planning and conducting internal audits and supporting external registrar or customer audits
Working knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, and IATF 16949 requirements
Applied experience with structured root cause and corrective action methodology (8D, 5-Why, fishbone, FMEA) and with driving corrective actions to verified closure
Experience defining requirements for and deploying quality systems software, including partnering with software or IT teams through implementation and adoption
Experience administering an electronic QMS or document control platform

Nice To Haves

Certified Lead Auditor for AS9100, ISO 9001, or IATF 16949
ASQ certification such as CQE, CQA, or CMQ/OE
Experience leading a digital quality, digital thread, or part traceability initiative, including requirements definition and phased rollout of an internally developed platform
Experience integrating quality data across MES, PLM, and ERP systems
Experience deploying a layered process audit program in a production environment
Experience in additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, or a low-volume high-mix production environment
Experience standing up or substantially restructuring a QMS rather than only maintaining an established one
Experience holding certification to both aerospace and automotive standards within a single management system
Hands-on ETQ Reliance administration experience is a plus
Six Sigma Black Belt certification is a plus
Experience supporting aerospace or automotive structures programs is a plus

Responsibilities

Own the Enterprise Quality Management System: Own the architecture of the Enterprise QMS end to end — the policy, procedure, and work instruction hierarchy that defines how Divergent designs, industrializes, and produces. Keep the documented system aligned with how work is actually performed across the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), retiring or rewriting process documentation that no longer reflects practice. Integrate quality requirements into the DAPS Product Life Cycle so that process controls are defined at the stage gates rather than reconstructed after the fact. Maintain the QMS as a single coherent system rather than a collection of departmental procedures, resolving conflicts and gaps between functions directly.
Lead the development of the Digital Quality Management System: Own the vision, direction, and roadmap for the Digital Quality Management System (DQMS), Divergent's internally developed platform for consolidating part quality information into a single digital thread. Define the functional and data requirements for DQMS — what part quality information is captured, at which operation, in what structure, and to what standard of completeness. Lead the development effort in partnership with software, IT, and data engineering, acting as the owner who sets priority and sequence rather than as a downstream requestor. Retire the fragmented spreadsheets, local records, and disconnected systems that DQMS replaces, so that a part's quality history resolves to one location rather than to several partial ones. Establish the governance that keeps DQMS authoritative over time — data ownership, entry discipline, validation, and the relationship between DQMS and the existing systems of record. Build the business case and demonstrate return as capability is released, sustaining investment in the program across roadmap cycles.
Lead and develop the Quality Systems Engineering team: Lead a team of quality systems engineers and document control specialists, setting priorities, balancing workload against audit and certification commitments, and owning hiring for the function. Build depth in audit practice, root cause methodology, and QMS administration so that the program does not depend on any single individual. Define what good looks like for the function's output — audit reports, CAPA records, process documentation — and hold the team to it.
Run the audit program: Own the internal audit schedule, auditor qualification, finding classification, and escalation path. Lead layered process audits on the production floor, verifying adherence at the point of work and treating audit findings as signal about the system rather than about individuals. Serve as the primary interface for registrar, customer, and third-party audits, preparing the organization, managing the audit itself, and owning the response to findings through verified closure.
Sustain certification and compliance: Maintain Divergent's quality certifications across AS9100, ISO 9001, IATF 16949 and Nadcap, owning surveillance and recertification readiness and the relationship with the registrar. Manage the differing and occasionally competing demands of aerospace and automotive certification within one coherent management system, rather than maintaining parallel systems per standard. Translate standard requirements into the company's own process language so compliance is a property of the operating system rather than a parallel activity performed for auditors. Anticipate the quality system requirements of new customer programs and industries, and close the gap before it becomes a condition of award.
Own document control and management of change: Own ETQ as the system of record for controlled documents, revisions, approvals, and retention, including configuration of workflows and access. Administer the Management of Change process so that process, material, equipment, and supplier changes are assessed, approved, and documented before implementation. Enforce revision discipline and record retention such that any process can be reconstructed and evidenced on demand.
Drive corrective action to systemic closure: Own the process CAPA pipeline, converting escapes, audit findings, and nonconformances into corrective actions that address the process rather than the instance. Set and maintain the structured root cause analysis method standards used company-wide, so investigations across quality, manufacturing, and reliability produce comparable and defensible conclusions. Verify effectiveness after implementation and reopen actions that have not changed the outcome. Escalate systemic gaps that exceed the reach of a single corrective action to the Senior Director, EHS and Quality with a defined recommendation.
Own quality data triage and reporting: Consolidate nonconformance, issue, and risk intake into a coherent triage path with clear ownership and defined routing between the quality organizations. Define and report the metrics that show whether the quality system is working — audit finding trends, CAPA cycle time and effectiveness, document health, and certification status. Present quality system performance and risk to senior leadership with a clear position on what the data requires.
Partner across the quality organizations and the business: Partner with Product Reliability Engineering on control plans, process validation, and the corrective action that follows a customer escape. Partner with Build Reliability Engineering on root cause method standards and on the qualification evidence that equipment must produce before it is released to production. Work with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Program Management to embed quality requirements at the point of decision rather than at the point of inspection.