Director, Non-Destructive Evaluation (Aerospace)

Location: Torrance, California, United States. Candidates must be able to lawfully access information and technology subject to US export controls and be eligible to work in the United States.

Salary: $222,130–$305,430 USD per year, plus equity and discretionary results-based incentive bonus opportunities.

Company

Divergent develops an integrated engineering and manufacturing platform for aerospace, defense, and high-volume automotive applications.

What you will do

• Build and lead the NDE engineering team and production inspection organization.
• Own the enterprise NDE strategy and technology roadmap across materials, manufacturing processes, and product applications.
• Lead development, validation, and qualification of RT, CT, PT, UT/PAUT, and emerging inspection technologies.
• Establish standardized inspection workflows, training, certification, calibration, equipment controls, and technical governance.
• Integrate NDE equipment and inspection data into MES, traceability, automated disposition, and the DAPS digital thread.
• Serve as the senior NDE technical authority and support product development, process qualification, root-cause investigations, customer requirements, and acceptance criteria.

Requirements

• US export-control eligibility and authorization to work in the United States are required.
• 10+ years of NDE, manufacturing, materials, or related engineering experience, preferably in aerospace, defense, or space.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical field.
• Experience leading both NDE engineering and production inspection operations and building teams from the ground up.
• Active Level III certification in at least one of RT, CT, UT/PAUT, or PT.
• Experience developing and qualifying NDE procedures, deploying them into production, and specifying, procuring, installing, and qualifying NDE capital equipment.

Nice to have

• Experience inspecting additively manufactured hardware, structural adhesive joints, or aerospace weldments.
• Current or past Level III certification in multiple NDE methods.
• Knowledge of aerospace NDE standards, qualification requirements, and quality systems including AMS, ASTM, and MIL standards.

Culture & Benefits

• Competitive compensation with equity and discretionary results-based incentive bonus opportunities.
• Paid vacation, sick time, company holidays, year-end shutdown, and paid parental leave.
• HMO and Premium PPO health plans, company-sponsored life insurance, and short- and long-term disability coverage.
• Learning and development reimbursement opportunities.
• Collaborative, dynamic, high-performing environment focused on innovation in manufacturing and reducing environmental footprint.