Principal Airframe Architect

About the role

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 dedicated to cultivating an equitable and inclusive environment that embraces our differences, and supports and celebrates all of our team members.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Requirements

• 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.

Qualifications

• Self-starter, team player, and desire to work in a fast-paced environment.

Skills

• Self-starter, team player, and desire to work in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

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.

Pay

Actual compensation offered will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Schedule

Not specified.