Director, Structures Engineering
San Jose, CA, USA
USD 248,800-311k / year
Posted on May 29, 2026
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, Archer is a leader in the next-gen aerospace sector building an end-to-end advanced air mobility platform that delivers air taxis, unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”), aviation-related physical artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions, and other technologies to customers worldwide across the commercial aerospace and defense sectors.
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.
The Airframe Engineering organization is responsible for the structural design and development of Archer's aircraft across multiple programs. The team is made up of product owners and engineers who take airframe structure from concept through certification and production, working closely with Manufacturing, Tooling, Quality, Certification, and Flight Test.
What You’ll Do:
As Director of Structures Engineering, you will own the technical direction and organizational health of the entire airframe organization across multiple programs. You will lead the team of product owners, set the airframe technology development roadmap, and ensure our product teams build on a consistent set of standards and practices. This is a player-coach role: you will be expected to design alongside the best engineers on the team.
- Set the airframe technology development direction across programs, balancing near-term program needs against longer-term investments in materials, processes, and structural architecture.
- Lead, coach, and develop the team of airframe product owners, holding them accountable for delivering designs that meet requirements, schedule, mass, cost, and quality targets.
- Provide consistency between product teams by establishing common design standards, analysis methods, materials and process selections, and design-review practices, and by resolving technical conflicts across programs.
- Contribute directly to structural design, concept development, and detailed design reviews, serving as a senior technical authority on load paths, joints, fatigue, damage tolerance, and failure modes.
- Make and defend architecture-level trade decisions across weight, cost, manufacturability, certification risk, performance, and schedule, and drive mass and design-optimization efforts across the fleet of programs.
- Partner with Manufacturing, Tooling, Quality, Supply Chain, Systems, Propulsion, Certification, and Flight Test to ensure the airframe is designed to be built, certified, and supported, including structural substantiation and test planning.
- Build and retain a high-performing organization through hiring, workforce planning, career development, and succession, and communicate status, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to executive leadership.
What You Need:
- 12+ years of progressive experience in aerostructures design and development, with a strong foundation in primary aircraft structure
- 5+ years of experience leading engineering teams, including leading other leaders or technical owners
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, or Structural Engineering or a related field advanced degree preferred
- Demonstrated hands-on design capability: you have personally designed flight structure and can engage credibly at the detail level with senior engineers
- Deep knowledge of aerostructures fundamentals, including load paths, structural sizing, joint design, fatigue and damage tolerance, and stability
- Experience with composite and/or metallic airframe structures, including materials and process selection and design for manufacturability
- Experience taking structural designs through test and substantiation, from coupon and element level through full-scale structural test
- Track record of setting technical direction and driving consistency across multiple products, programs, or teams
- Strong communication and influence skills, with the ability to align engineering, manufacturing, and executive stakeholders on difficult tradeoffs
Bonus Qualifications:
- Experience on FAA-certified aircraft, including structural substantiation and interaction with certification authorities
- Experience with eVTOL, rotorcraft, or other novel aircraft configurations
- Experience bringing a structure from development into production-rate manufacturing
- Background in tooling, assembly, or manufacturing engineering that informs design decisions
- Experience leading aircraft-level mass, cost, or design-optimization programs
Please note that this job description is intended to provide a general overview of the position and does not include an exhaustive list of responsibilities and qualifications.
At Archer we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent that possess the skills and leadership necessary to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company’s business strategy. For this position we are targeting a base pay between $248,800 - $311,000 . Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
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Certain positions may be eligible for visa sponsorship.
Archer is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
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