Director of Engineering Operations

About this role

Infleqtion is seeking a Director of Engineering Operations within the Quantum Sensing Solutions (QSS) group. This leader will own and continuously improve the engineering operating system that enables multidisciplinary teams to develop, control, review, release, and transition complex quantum technologies and products from concept through manufacturing. The role will initially serve QSS, while establishing practices, systems, and capabilities designed for broader enterprise adoption as the organization grows.
Reporting to the QSS Chief Engineer, the Director will translate expectations for technical rigor into scalable processes, stage-appropriate governance, quality and configuration controls, engineering tools, laboratory operations, equipment strategies, and technical infrastructure. The Director will lead Quality, Configuration Management and Document Control, and Laboratory Operations, and will work across business areas, programs, engineering disciplines, sites, and corporate functions to create a consistent and usable environment for engineering execution.
The Director will have authority to establish mandatory engineering processes, approve process tailoring within delegated authority, govern major lifecycle gates, and pause reviews or releases when required evidence, configuration integrity, quality readiness, or compliance conditions have not been met. The QSS Chief Engineer remains the ultimate technical authority and may delegate technical authority to Program Chief Engineers or other qualified leaders. Engineering Operations will enable sound technical decisions and verify the integrity of the decision process without routinely substituting for program or discipline-level technical judgment.
The successful candidate will combine broad engineering leadership with practical experience building operating systems for complex hardware and firmware development. This leader must be comfortable applying lightweight controls to exploratory work, increasing rigor as designs mature, and directly engaging at major baseline, release, qualification, and manufacturing-transition points. The role requires a service mindset, independent judgment, and the ability to make compliance and rigor practical in a fast-moving advanced-development environment.
Key Responsibilities
Engineering Operating System and Lifecycle Governance
• Own the QSS engineering lifecycle from concept development through transition to manufacturing, including defined phases, maturity expectations, decision points, required evidence, and accountable roles.
• Establish, implement, and continuously improve mandatory engineering processes that are scalable across programs, products, business areas, technical disciplines, and maturity levels.
• Define and administer a stage-appropriate tailoring model that preserves speed during exploratory development while increasing control, traceability, and assurance as solutions mature.
• Translate practices demonstrated on high-value and high-risk programs into repeatable standards, templates, training, and reusable infrastructure for the broader QSS portfolio.
• Ensure QSS engineering processes remain compatible with enterprise operating models, contractual requirements, customer expectations, and future company-wide adoption.
Technical Gate Reviews and Release Governance
• Own and enforce the technical gate-review process, including review purpose, entrance and exit criteria, required participants, evidence packages, decisions, actions, and closure expectations.
• Provide direct governance at major lifecycle transitions, technical baseline events, product releases, qualification milestones, and manufacturing-transition decisions; delegate routine review and release activities based on product maturity and demonstrated organizational capability.
• Partner with the responsible Chief Engineer, Program Chief Engineer, Program Manager, and technical leads so technical adequacy and operational readiness are evaluated as complementary but distinct decisions.
Quality Management and AS9100 Readiness
• Lead the quality organization and establish an effective, service-oriented quality system supporting the delivery of advanced prototypes, qualification units, low-rate builds, and run-rate products.
• Lead QSS preparation for and maintenance of AS9100 certification, including process definition, deployment, training, internal audits, management review, corrective action, records, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure quality personnel provide practical support to engineering and manufacturing teams while retaining independent authority to identify, document, escalate, and stop work or release when quality or mission-assurance requirements are at risk.
• Maintain an independent quality escalation path to the QSS Chief Engineer and appropriate executive leadership.
Configuration Management, Document Control, and Technical Data
• Lead Configuration Management and Document Control as responsive service functions that enable teams to establish, maintain, and retrieve accurate technical baselines and records.
• Own configuration-management policy and implementation for hardware and firmware, with a roadmap to expand coverage as software and integrated product needs mature.
• Establish controlled processes for requirements, specifications, drawings, bills of material, firmware and software items, test evidence, calibration records, technical reports, customer deliverables, and other product-definition data.
• Ensure configuration and document-control practices integrate effectively with Quality, Finance, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, program controls, and customer data requirements.
Engineering Tools, Digital Workflows, and Knowledge Management
• Serve as the engineering business-process owner for PLM, requirements management, design software, development issue tracking, and knowledge-management environments.
• Define common workflows, data models, integrations, access patterns, governance, and adoption…