Director, Automation & Controls Engineering

As Director, Automation & Controls Engineering, you will lead the team building the automation backbone of Divergent’s next generation of machines and factories. You will define and deliver the controls, robotics, electrical, safety, and factory automation systems that turn complex manufacturing technology into reliable, scalable, and increasingly autonomous production. 

This role owns both the technical direction and organizational capability required to push industrial automation forward—from first-of-kind machine development through fleet deployment and factory scale. You will build the architectures, standards, teams, and engineering systems that enable Divergent to move faster, automate more, reduce operator dependency, and create manufacturing systems capable of scaling far beyond traditional factories. 

Development & Execution 

• Lead delivery of electrical, PLC, HMI, SCADA, motion control, robotics, and machine-safety systems from requirements through validated production release. 
• Lead engineering execution to deliver systems on schedule and to technical, quality, and production-readiness requirements. 
• Ensure systems meet reliability, maintainability, functional safety, and regulatory compliance requirements through rigorous engineering and validation practices. 

Architecture & Foundation 

• Set technical direction for controls architecture, technology platforms, engineering standards, and integration across Divergent machines and factories. 
• Build scalable capabilities through modular architectures, reusable libraries, standardization, and disciplined configuration management. 
• Establish technical governance and engineering rigor to improve consistency, reliability, maintainability, and development efficiency. 
• Drive systemic reliability improvements by incorporating operational failures, corrective actions, and production learnings into future designs. 

Robotics & Advanced Automation 

• Define and execute the technology roadmap for industrial robotics, autonomous machine operation, and advanced factory automation. 
• Drive initiatives that reduce manual labor, operator dependency, manufacturing complexity, and cost while improving productivity. 
• Develop the technical capabilities, partnerships, and scalable automation platforms required for increasingly autonomous machines and factories. 

Organizational & Strategic Leadership 

• Build and develop a high-performing engineering organization through hiring, coaching, delegation, performance management, and development of technical leaders. 
• Establish an effective operating rhythm with clear ownership, priorities, accountability, resource management, and measurable outcomes. 
• Translate business objectives into engineering strategy, roadmaps, and investment priorities, balancing production support, reliability, technical debt, and future development. 
• Lead cross-functional alignment and execution across Machine Development, R&D, Supply Chain, Production, Service, and other operational teams. 

• Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or a related field. 
• 10+ years of experience in industrial automation, controls, robotics, or complex automated equipment development. 
• Proven experience leading engineering organizations and delivering complex, cross-functional machine or factory automation programs. 
• Strong technical foundation in PLCs, electrical systems, industrial networking, motion control, robotics, and machine safety. 

• Experience developing complex capital equipment, advanced manufacturing, semiconductor, additive manufacturing, or robotics systems. 
• Expertise in Beckhoff TwinCAT, IEC 61131-3 Structured Text, industrial networking, and motion control. 
• Experience with industrial robotics, simulation, offline programming, and virtual commissioning. 
• Knowledge of NEC, NFPA 79, UL 508A, functional safety, and machine risk assessment. 
• Experience scaling controls architectures, engineering standards, and teams across machine fleets or factories.