Senior Manager, Quality Systems Engineering

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• Own the Enterprise Quality Management System – own the architecture of the Enterprise QMS end to end (policy, procedure, work instruction hierarchy); keep the documented system aligned with actual work across the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS), retiring or rewriting outdated documentation; integrate quality requirements into the DAPS Product Life Cycle so controls are defined at stage gates; maintain the QMS as a single coherent system, resolving conflicts and gaps between functions.
• Lead the development of the Digital Quality Management System – own the vision, direction, and roadmap for DQMS; define functional and data requirements (what part quality information is captured, at which operation, in what structure, to what standard); lead development effort with software, IT, and data engineering as the owner setting priority; retire fragmented spreadsheets and disconnected systems so a part's quality history resolves to one location; establish governance (data ownership, entry discipline, validation, relationship to existing systems of record); build the business case and demonstrate ROI as capability is released.
• 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/certification commitments, owning hiring; build depth in audit practice, root cause methodology, and QMS administration so the program does not depend on any single individual; define what good looks like for 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, treating audit findings as system signals; serve as primary interface for registrar, customer, and third‑party audits, preparing the organization, managing the audit, and owning 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 registrar relationship; manage differing and occasionally competing demands of aerospace and automotive certification within one coherent system; translate standard requirements into company process language so compliance is a property of the operating system; anticipate quality system requirements of new customer programs and close gaps before they become award conditions.
• Own document control and management of change – own ETQ as the system of record for controlled documents, revisions, approvals, and retention, including workflow and access configuration; administer the Management of Change process so process, material, equipment, and supplier changes are assessed, approved, and documented before implementation; enforce revision discipline and record retention so any process can be reconstructed and evidenced on demand.
• Drive corrective action to systemic closure – own the CAPA pipeline, converting escapes, audit findings, and nonconformances into corrective actions that address the process; set and maintain structured root cause analysis method standards (8D, 5‑Why, fishbone, FMEA) company‑wide; verify effectiveness after implementation and reopen actions that have not changed the outcome; escalate systemic gaps exceeding 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 routing between quality organizations; define and report metrics showing whether the quality system is working (audit finding trends, CAPA cycle time and effectiveness, document health, 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 corrective action following a customer escape; partner with Build Reliability Engineering on root cause method standards and qualification evidence equipment must meet before release 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.

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

Qualifications

• Certified Lead Auditor for AS91