The role
What you'll do
- What You'll Do:
- Team Leadership & Project Execution
- Manage, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of mechanical design engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement.
- Track project priorities, allocate team resources, and manage engineering timelines to ensure critical motor development milestones are met on schedule.
- Conduct regular 1:1s, manage performance reviews, and guide the professional development of your team members.
- Serve as the primary point of accountability for the motor mechanical design team's deliverables during program-level planning and status meetings.
- Technical Direction & Design Oversight
- Direct the detailed mechanical design of stator and rotor assemblies, ensuring the team meets strict structural integrity, weight, and thermal performance requirements.
- Lead comprehensive design reviews, providing final sign-off on CAD models, technical drawings, GD&T, and engineering specifications.
- Oversee the development of critical sub-systems, such as lightweight, high-speed rotor assemblies and high-voltage insulation systems.
- Analysis, Validation & Problem Solving
- Guide the team’s collaboration with the CAE group to define finite element analysis (FEA) strategies that verify strength, dynamic, and fatigue requirements.
- Oversee your team's participation in development testing, ensuring thermal predictions and durability requirements are validated against physical data.
- Lead the triaging, root cause analysis, and resolution of complex, critical issues discovered during the design, manufacturing, testing, and development cycles.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with electromagnetic and thermal leadership to ensure analytical models are successfully translated into functioning, manufacturable parts.
- Collaborate with manufacturing engineering, quality, and supply chain teams to ensure DFM (design for manufacturing) feedback is implemented and components meet rigorous aviation standards at scale.
- Coordinate with the broader electric propulsion leadership to drive the seamless mechanical integration of motor components into the main engine assembly.
- What You Need:
- Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s or Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field.
- Minimum of 7+ years of experience in the mechanical design of electric machines (motors/generators), with at least 2+ years of direct people management or formal team leadership experience.
- Deep understanding of electric motor construction, including lamination stacks, winding techniques, magnet retention, and insulation materials.
- Project Management & Leadership Skills
- Proven ability to manage engineering priorities, track project schedules, and drive complex hardware development cycles from concept to production.
The bar
What you'll bring
- Availability for domestic travel as needed.
- Demonstrated commitment to safety and quality in engineering practices.
- Bonus Qualifications:
- Aerospace development and certification experience (FAA/EASA).
- Experience with high-speed rotor dynamics and balancing.
- Familiarity with hardware project management tools (e.g., Jira, MS Project, Smartsheet).
- Familiarity with FEA software packages (ANSYS, NASTRAN) for structural and thermal analysis.
Additional notes
Other
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.
About the Role: As the motor mechanical design lead on our Electric Propulsion Team, you'll be at the forefront of solving complex challenges that directly impact the performance, safety, and evolution of Archer's cutting-edge electric aviation technology. In this role you’ll be leading the team that serves as the bridge between electromagnetic theory and physical reality, applying advanced mechanical engineering principles to turn analytical models into robust, high-performance electric motors.