Lead Software Engineer, Quality Assurance

Lead Software Engineer, Quality Assurance

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.

We are looking for our first QA engineer to establish and own software quality across our growing web application portfolio. This role will work closely with software engineers, product managers, and operations teams to ensure our applications meet high standards of reliability, performance, and usability—critical in a cutting‑edge manufacturing environment. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building QA from the ground up, writing real automation code, and shaping how quality is perceived across an engineering organization.

• Define and implement
  QA strategy, standards, and best practices across the software development lifecycle
• Establish
  test planning, test case design, defect tracking, and release sign‑off processes
• Embed QA into CI/CD pipelines and development workflows
• Advocate for
  quality‑first engineering culture
  , including shift‑left testing and testability
• Design, write, and maintain
  automated test suites
  (unit, integration, end‑to‑end)
• Select and standardize
  testing frameworks and tools
  appropriate for our stack (e.g. Playwright, Cypress, Jest, Vitest, etc.)
• Build robust test coverage for:
  • Web UIs (Angular / React)
  • APIs and backend services (Graph
    
    QL / REST)
  • Database interactions (Postgres / Prisma)
• Ensure tests are reliable, maintainable, and fast enough for CI use
• Perform and guide
  exploratory testing
  for new features and complex workflows
• Define regression testing strategies and release validation processes
• Collaborate with product and engineering to clarify acceptance criteria
• Work closely with developers to improve testability and prevent defects early
• Partner with product managers to ensure requirements are testable and well‑defined
• Communicate quality metrics, risks, and readiness clearly to stakeholders
• Scale QA practices to support increased product scope and development velocity
• Hire, onboard, and mentor QA engineers during a future growth phase

• Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
• 5+ years of experience in
  software quality assurance
  , with significant hands‑on automation experience
• Strong experience testing
  modern web applications
• Experience with one or more modern test frameworks (e.g. Playwright, Cypress, Jest)
• Solid understanding of:
  • REST APIs
  • Relational databases (Postgres preferred)
  • CI/CD pipelines
• Experience designing QA processes, not just executing them
• Ability to work independently and make pragmatic decisions in an evolving environment

• Experience being the
  first or lead QA hire
  in a growing team
• Familiarity with Angular and/or React applications
• Experience testing systems used in
  manufacturing, industrial, or operational environments
• Knowledge of performance, load, or reliability testing
• Experience integrating QA into Dev Ops practices
• Prior people management or mentorship experience
• This is an on‑site role located at our Torrance, CA headquarters.

At Divergent, our pay range is based on the level of the job. For this role, we will consider candidates at levels E05 – E06 as evaluated through our interview process.

Pay Range

$134,640 - $213,840 USD

What We Offer:

• Holistic Compensation Package: Enjoy a world‑class compensation package that includes a competitive salary, equity plan, and discretionary results‑based…