Lead Project Manager, Factory Development

About the role

The Lead Project Manager, Factory Development role at Divergent is responsible for architecting and executing the buildout of next-generation manufacturing facilities. This role oversees integrated execution across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and manufacturing readiness activities to bring new production capabilities online at scale.

Responsibilities

• Own integrated execution planning and drive alignment across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and manufacturing readiness activities required to bring new manufacturing capability online.
• Maintain visibility into critical path activities, deployment milestones, execution constraints, production readiness objectives, and operational dependencies across factory deployment initiatives.
• Identify execution gaps, deployment risks, and schedule impacts early while driving issue resolution, escalation management, recovery planning, and corrective actions required to maintain deployment momentum and operational readiness targets.
• Lead factory deployment execution activities across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and manufacturing readiness workstreams.
• Drive stakeholder accountability, execution follow-through, deployment alignment, and issue resolution across internal teams, contractors, OEM vendors, and external partners.
• Ensure deployment priorities, execution decisions, scope changes, and critical risks are rapidly communicated, escalated, and resolved to maintain factory deployment objectives, production milestones, and operational readiness goals.
• Proactively identify, communicate, escalate, and drive mitigation of execution risks associated with factory development, infrastructure deployment, construction execution, manufacturing readiness, and operational integration activities.
• Lead cross-functional issue resolution, recovery planning, and mitigation efforts required to resolve deployment blockers, reduce execution risk, and maintain alignment across fast-paced factory deployment initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional execution alignment across engineering, operations, facilities, procurement, finance, contractors, OEM vendors, and external partners to maintain deployment momentum, production readiness, and operational execution across factory deployment initiatives.
• Influence stakeholders, drive accountability, resolve competing priorities, and accelerate issue resolution while maintaining alignment on deployment objectives, production milestones, manufacturing readiness goals, and operational timelines.
• Operate with influence without authority across adjacent functions, shaping decisions and driving outcomes beyond the immediate factory deployment team.
• Define and drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on improving deployment execution velocity, manufacturing readiness, operational scalability, and cross-functional execution effectiveness across factory deployment initiatives.
• Capture lessons learned and develop scalable deployment practices, execution frameworks, and operational standards that improve deployment consistency, production ramp readiness, and long-term factory scaling capability across future manufacturing deployments.

Requirements

• Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Operations, or related technical discipline
• 10+ years of experience leading manufacturing operations, factory deployment, industrial project execution, production scale-up, operational readiness, facility development, capital projects, or complex industrial programs
• Demonstrated experience driving execution across integrated manufacturing, industrial, construction, or factory deployment programs involving multiple stakeholders, parallel workstreams, and production readiness activities
• Demonstrated ability to independently prioritize execution activities, resolve deployment challenges, escalate critical risks, and drive execution outcomes under evolving priorities and ambiguous conditions within fast-paced manufacturing or industrial environments
• Strong execution leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills with demonstrated ability to drive accountability, maintain execution momentum, enable rapid decision-making, and align cross-functional teams across fast-paced manufacturing or industrial deployment initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional execution across engineering, operations, facilities, procurement, contractors, OEM vendors, manufacturing stakeholders, and external partners
• Strong understanding of industrial facility infrastructure systems, manufacturing environments, and factory deployment activities including power distribution, compressed air, HVAC, facility utilities, equipment installation, commissioning, operational readiness, and manufacturing startup activities
• Experience defining and owning integrated execution planning, budget and schedule alignment, deployment forecasting, issue resolution, risk management, and execution visibility across complex industrial or manufacturing programs involving multiple stakeholders and parallel workstreams
• Proficiency with project management, scheduling, budgeting, forecasting, and execution management tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera P6, Excel, Oracle, Datarails, Smartsheet, or similar platforms

Qualifications

• Basic Qualifications:
• Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Operations, or related technical discipline
• 10+ years of experience leading manufacturing operations, factory deployment, industrial project execution, production scale-up, operational readiness, facility development, capital projects, or complex industrial programs
• Demonstrated experience driving execution across integrated manufacturing, industrial, construction, or factory deployment programs involving multiple stakeholders, parallel workstreams, and production readiness activities
• Demonstrated ability to independently prioritize execution activities, resolve deployment challenges, escalate critical risks, and drive execution outcomes under evolving priorities and ambiguous conditions within fast-paced manufacturing or industrial environments
• Strong execution leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills with demonstrated ability to drive accountability, maintain execution momentum, enable rapid decision-making, and align cross-functional teams across fast-paced manufacturing or industrial deployment initiatives
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional execution across engineering, operations, facilities, procurement, contractors, OEM vendors, manufacturing stakeholders, and external partners
• Strong understanding of industrial facility infrastructure systems, manufacturing environments, and factory deployment activities including power distribution, compressed air, HVAC, facility utilities, equipment installation, commissioning, operational readiness, and manufacturing startup activities
• Experience defining and owning integrated execution planning, budget and schedule alignment, deployment forecasting, issue resolution, risk management, and execution visibility across complex industrial or manufacturing programs involving multiple stakeholders and parallel workstreams
• Proficiency with project management, scheduling, budgeting, forecasting, and execution management tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera P6, Excel, Oracle, Datarails, Smartsheet, or similar platforms

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading or supporting manufacturing facility buildouts, factory expansions, production line deployments, tenant improvements, operational scale-up initiatives, or industrial capital projects
• Experience driving integrated execution across engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, manufacturing startup, and operational readiness activities
• Experience driving or supporting contractor execution, procurement coordination, construction sequencing, infrastructure integration, equipment installation, commissioning, manufacturing startup, validation, operational readiness, or field execution activities within manufacturing or industrial environments
• Experience operating in fast-paced, high-growth manufacturing, industrial, aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, or advanced technology environments
• Exposure to facility layouts, infrastructure coordination, construction drawing packages, manufacturing workflows, or CAD drawing review processes
• Experience applying software tools or scripting approaches such as SQL, VBA, Python, or Power BI to support deployment analytics, workflow automation, scheduling analytics, cost tracking, or operational reporting
• Experience delivering or supporting complex industrial, manufacturing, construction, or factory deployment programs involving multiple concurrent stakeholders, vendors, contractors, execution phases, and operational readiness milestones

Pay Range

$150,280 - $200,380 USD

What We Offer

Holistic Compensation Package: Enjoy a world-class compensation package that includes a competitive salary, equity plan, and discretionary results-based incentive bonus opportunities, ensuring you're truly valued for your contributions.
Wellness and Time Off: Embrace a healthy lifestyle with paid vacation, sick time, and company holidays, including a year-end shutdown to recharge. We support growing families with paid parental leave, recognizing the importance of bonding time.
Comprehensive Health and Wellness: Prioritize your well-being with our comprehensive health and wellness benefits, offering both HMO and Premium PPO options. Additionally, benefit from company-sponsored life insurance and short and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind.
Investment in Growth: We're committed to your professional development. Take advantage of reimbursement opportunities for learning and development initiatives, empowering you to continuously expand your skill set and reach peak performance.
Collaborative and High-Performing Environment: Join our collaborative, dynamic, and high-performing team within a fast-paced, mission-driven company. Together, we're disrupting the traditional manufacturing industry, fostering innovation, and integrating people and technology to reduce our footprint.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Divergent is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected characteristic. Divergent provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with Disabilities and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act.