About this Principal Airframe Architect role at Archer
Archer is an aerospace company based in San Jose, California building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft with a mission to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. We are designing, manufacturing, and operating an all-electric aircraft that can carry four passengers while producing minimal noise.
Our sights are set high and our problems are hard, and we believe that diversity in the workplace is what makes us smarter, drives better insights, and will ultimately lift us all to success. We are dedicated to cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment that embraces our differences, and supports and celebrates all of our team members.
What you’ll do:
- Lead airframe development from concept through build and flight test, collaborating with the Chief Engineer and program leaders to meet target requirements.
- Evaluate and trade structural layouts and material selections across candidate configurations for weight, manufacturability, and cost.
- Develop conceptual airframe architecture and parametric structural weight models for fuselage, wing, tail, and nacelle structures.
- Size major structural components using classical analytical methods and/or conceptual FEM.
- Apply in depth understanding of load paths, design best practices, and hand calcs to design robust, manufacturable, and cost effective structural configurations.
- Mentor junior engineers on design, analysis, and manufacturing techniques.
- Own the validation and verification of airframe requirements.
What you need:
- 15+ years of experience with innovative aircraft structures, including leadership within a recent civil or military aircraft development program.
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
- In depth understanding of load paths, laminate design fundamentals, metallic design fundamentals and analysis methods (FEA, closed form solutions for sandwich panel stability, lug and fastener hand calcs, etc.)
- Broad experience across a range of airframe structures (fuselage, wing, pylons, empennage)
- Strong CAD skills in NX (preferred), Solidworks, Catia or Creo
- Hands-on manufacturing experience with composites (wet-lay, prepreg, autoclave, bonding, drilling/fastening) and machining metallic parts (milling, lathe, drilling).
- Experience with analyzing and dispositioning non-conformances
- Self-starter, team player, and desire to work in a fast-paced environment
At Archer, we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent with the skills and leadership needed to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company’s strategy. For this position, we are targeting a base pay range of $242,800 - $322,100. Actual compensation offered will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
Archer is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to job applicants with physical or mental disabilities, and those with sincerely held religious beliefs. Applicants who may require reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should provide their name and contact information to Archer’s People Team at [email protected]. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
