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Salary: USD 172,800 - 237,600 / annual
Archer Technologies is building an all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft designed to carry four passengers with minimal noise, advancing sustainable air mobility. As Vehicle Architect — Conceptual Sizing, you will own the overall conceptual sizing and configuration of next-generation aircraft platforms.
You will build and maintain vehicle-level conceptual sizing and optimization models that translate mission and customer inputs into converged, weight- and performance-closed vehicle designs. This includes defining sizing parameters such as maximum takeoff weight (MTOW), empty weight, disk/wing loading, and installed power. You will own and evolve Archer's vehicle-level conceptual sizing and multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) methodology, integrating models from structures, powertrain, aerodynamics, and other engineering disciplines into a unified optimization framework.
Key responsibilities include leading configuration trade studies across different use cases and missions, balancing performance, weight, cost, and producibility. You will work closely with product, systems engineering, and customers to shape missions around their needs, translating use cases into vehicle-level design drivers and supporting requirements definition. You will own the vehicle mass properties rollup, sizing convergence loop, and margin management across the concept, serving as a key technical point of contact with customers and partners to present trade studies, sizing rationale, and vehicle performance.
Required qualifications include strong proficiency in Python for building production-quality analysis and optimization tools, and demonstrated expertise with multidisciplinary design optimization frameworks such as OpenMDAO, AeroSandbox, SUAVE, GPkit, or Dymos. You must have proven experience sizing actual aircraft that have flown, and experience integrating multi-disciplinary inputs into overall vehicle sizing models. Ideal candidates will have experience in rotor/propeller aerodynamic and structural sizing, hybrid-electric powertrain sizing, electric propulsion systems, or conventional propulsion integration. Familiarity with eVTOL, tiltrotor, or rotorcraft configurations, surrogate modeling techniques, high-performance computing, parametric geometry generation, and aerospace specifications (MIL specs/FARs) is highly valued. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.
