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Platform Strategy & Operations Director

Torrance, California, United States

Divergent is a technology company that has architected, invented, built, and commercialized an end-to-end factory system called the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) that comprehensively uses machine learning to optimally engineer, additively manufacture, and flexibly assemble complex integrated vehicle structures and subsystems. Products created using DAPS are superior in performance, lower in cost, rapidly customizable to meet mission and customer-specific requirements, faster to market, and scalable on demand to high volume production. Divergent is a qualified Tier 1 supplier to global automotive OEMs, and Divergent is now expanding to support mission critical needs in the Aerospace and Defense sector. Join us to be a part of this transformative journey, where your impact will shape the future of technology and production.

Purpose

The Platform Technology organization is the engine that creates DAPS, the 21st century automated design & manufacturing platform accelerating advancements in aerospace & defense and high-volume automotive markets. The Director of Platform Development Operations is the Chief Platform Development Officer’s right hand – an enterprise expert with mastery across multiple technology domains who translates strategy into action, is a systems thinker with executive level communication skills that removes friction, and ensures the team delivers cost reduction, capability expansion, and talent development goals. 

The Role

1. Platform Execution & Decision Support

  • Peer Alignment: Gather problem statements, priorities, and proofs of concept from external departments for inclusion in platform OKRs. 
  • OKR Management: Own the end-to-end Platform Org OKR cycle (collection, updates, monthly/quarterly reviews, retrospectives). 
  • Company Tie In: Validate that platform OKRs cascade from and support companywide OKRs; adjust strategy as needed. 
  • OKR Evolution: Facilitate regular OKR framework retrospectives; drive continuous improvement of the OKR process. 
  • Decision Gate Facilitation: Run weekly tech leadership syncs, maintain a decision register, and surface blockers for rapid resolution. 
  • Risk & Issue Management: Track cross functional risks in a live dashboard; coordinate mitigation actions with Extended & Senior Leadership Teams  

2. Platform Connectivity

  • Internal Comms: Produce all hands updates, newsletters, tech demos, and other communications to keep the whole company informed of platform advancement, achievements, project status and priorities. 
  • External Relationships: Manage relationships with technology thought leaders through conferences, media, and site visits. Collect and present competitive intelligence and opportunities for strategic partnerships. 
  • Platform Feedback: Collect and synthesize employee feedback on platform performance, culture, and technical direction; feed insights back to leadership. 

3. Platform Strategy& Portfolio Governance 

  • Strategic Feedback Loops: Develop and manage the feedback loops to and from the operations & business development organizations, ensuring program requirements feed into platform strategy and platform capabilities (existing, in development or conceptual) feed back into SIOP and business development processes. 
  • Roadmap Management: Develop and maintain a ~5-year platform capability roadmap that links OKRs, technology enablers, and product family targets. Identify and resolve blockers stalling progress. Translate long term roadmap into quarterly org OKRs. 
  • COGS & NRE: Lead high level tradeoff analyses to prioritize projects that reduce cost of good sold and non-recurring engineering spend to align with company go-to-market strategy 
  • Technology Portfolio Review: Conduct quarterly platform health reviews (ROI, technical debt, and throughput). 
  • Architecture & Standards Guardrails: Consolidate, define and enforce platform architecture principles and safety/quality standards. 

4. People, Culture & AI Enablement

  • Leadership Development: Capture needs for technical and people leadership capability advancement, partner with People Ops for creation and implementation. 
  • AI Knowledge Harvest: Facilitate the capture of engineering expertise for translation into agentic AI tools (knowledge bases, recommendation engines, workflow automation) to accelerate program execution and platform development. 
  • Culture & Change Management: Create and execute change management plans for major platform rollouts with accountability for quality of company-wide implementations; monitor adoption and cultural health. Mentor and coach platform team on best practices. 

5. Finance, Resource Management & Reporting

  • Budget Ownership: Lead annual platform budget creation and quarterly reforecasting in Datarails; track spend vs. forecast and reprioritize funding as needed. 
  • Resource & Capacity Planning: Facilitate headcount management (modeling, allocations & approvals); allocate resources to highest value projects each quarter. Participate in recruiting activities for high priority roles. 

Basic Qualifications

  • Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls 
  • 8+ years of operational experience in dynamic, technical start-up environments turning ambiguity into robust and streamlined business processes 
  • Demonstrated strategic influence, working closely with C-suite executives on long term planning 
  • Proven ability to solve ambiguous, high complexity problems with minimal supervision and to define technical strategy 
  • Strong communication skills for translating technical detail into business value for customers and internal stakeholders and vice versa 
  • Experience coaching leaders of all levels and contributing to internal knowledge bases or communities of practice. 

Preferred Qualifications

  • 5+ years in a strategic consulting environment 
  • Experience working in agile, cross functional product teams. 
  • Knowledgeable of advanced manufacturing systems and processes 
  • Exposure to enterprise-wide AI/ML applications 
  • Prior work in a regulated industry (aerospace, automotive, etc.) where regulatory compliance and safety are critical. 

Pay Range

$178,190 - $245,010 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.
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In order to adjust to changes in our business, it may become necessary to add, remove or modify certain duties and responsibilities, or to reassign you to another job position. From time to time you may be asked to work on special projects or to assist with other work. Your cooperation and assistance in performing such additional work is expected. 
 
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