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Salary: USD 222,130 - 305,430 / annual
Divergent 3D is building an integrated engineering and manufacturing platform (DAPS) that transforms complex designs into production-ready solutions for aerospace, defense, and high-volume automotive markets. The company is a qualified Tier 1 supplier to global automotive OEMs and supports leading U.S. aerospace and defense companies.
The Director of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) will own the strategy, roadmap, engineering maturity, and operational excellence of Divergent's NDE capabilities. This is a leadership role responsible for building and leading the NDE organization across both method development and production inspection, ensuring the company meets customer and industry requirements while advancing the state of the art in automated, digitally integrated inspection.
Key responsibilities include:
- Build and lead both the NDE engineering team and production inspection organization
- Own the enterprise NDE strategy and technology roadmap across multiple materials, manufacturing processes, and product applications
- Lead development, validation, and qualification of methods including RT (radiography), CT (computed tomography), PT (penetrant testing), UT/PAUT (ultrasonic/phased array ultrasonic testing), and emerging inspection technologies
- Establish standardized inspection workflows, training, certification, calibration, equipment controls, and technical governance
- Develop novel NDE approaches suited to Divergent's fixtureless, adaptable DAPS manufacturing system rather than replicating legacy inspection practices
- Integrate NDE equipment and inspection data into MES, traceability, automated disposition, and the broader DAPS digital thread
- Serve as Divergent's senior NDE technical authority and partner closely with Materials, Design, Manufacturing, Production, Factory Development, and Quality
- Support product development, process qualification, root-cause investigations, customer requirements, and acceptance-criteria development
This role requires deep expertise in NDE, manufacturing, and materials engineering, with a track record of building teams and technical capabilities from the ground up. The successful candidate will bridge inspection engineering with production operations and digital integration, positioning NDE as a strategic competitive advantage in advanced manufacturing.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Ability to lawfully access information and technology subject to US export controls
- 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
- Demonstrated experience leading both NDE engineering and production inspection operations
- Active Level III certification in at least one of: RT, CT, UT/PAUT, or PT
- Experience developing and qualifying NDE procedures and deploying them into production
- Experience specifying, procuring, installing, and qualifying NDE capital equipment
- Demonstrated experience building teams and technical capabilities from the ground up
- Strong engineering and operational background, with the ability to connect NDE results to materials, manufacturing processes, design requirements, and production performance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with inspection of additive manufactured hardware, structural adhesive joints, or aerospace weldments
- Current or past Level III certification in multiple NDE methods
- Strong knowledge of aerospace NDE standards, qualification requirements, and quality systems (AMS, ASTM, MIL, etc.)
