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Program Manager, Archer Intelligence

San Jose, California, United States

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 an Engineering Program Manager for Archer Intelligence, you will be the operational backbone of one of Archer's most strategically important software initiatives. You will lead programs spanning the full product development lifecycle — from early-stage scoping and architecture through software release, deployment, and ongoing sustainment. Working cross-functionally with software engineers, product managers, user experience designers and flight operations specialists you will ensure that Archer Intelligence products are delivered on time, within scope, and to the rigorous safety-critical quality standards demanded by the aviation industry.

What You'll Do:

Program Leadership & Execution

  • Own end-to-end technical program management for Archer Intelligence product initiatives from inception through release and sustainment.
  • Define program roadmaps, milestones, resource plans, and success criteria in close partnership with engineering and product leadership.
  • Integrate aviation safety and regulatory milestones (e.g., certification gates) directly into the overall program roadmap.
  • Drive alignment across software engineering, AI development, QA and operations.
  • Track program health through clear metrics, proactively identify risks, and lead mitigation strategies to ensure successful delivery to customers.

Software Development & Release

  • Coordinate software development activities across agile teams, managing sprint planning, backlog grooming, and release cycles.
  • Lead software release processes including release readiness reviews, integration testing coordination, and deployment gate reviews.
  • Manage dependencies between teams to ensure alignment across the development lifecycle.
  • Champion software engineering best practices including CI/CD pipelines, version control strategies, and code quality standards.
  • Lead the process for training, validation, and deployment of mission-critical AI/ML models.

Sustainment & Continuous Improvement

  • Oversee post-release sustainment activities including bug triage, patch management, and ongoing feature development.
  • Establish feedback loops between product and engineering to continuously improve product quality.
  • Drive retrospectives and process improvements to increase team velocity and reduce cycle times.

Stakeholder Communication

  • Serve as the primary point of contact for program status, communicating clearly with senior leadership and technical teams alike.
  • Prepare and present program reviews, risk assessments, and executive briefings with clarity and confidence.
  • Partner with aviation safety and certification teams to ensure software programs meet applicable regulatory requirements.

What You'll Bring:

  • 5–10 years of Technical Program Management experience, with a focus on safety-critical, regulated software development in aerospace or a comparable industry.
  • Demonstrated experience managing the full product development lifecycle — from requirements definition through software release and sustainment.
  • Deep fluency in modern software development practices, including agile methodologies, DevOps, CI/CD, and cloud-based software delivery.
  • Strong technical acumen with the ability to engage credibly with software engineers and data scientists on architecture, implementation tradeoffs, and system design.
  • Proven track record of managing complex, multi-team programs with competing priorities and tight deadlines.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to distill complex technical information for executive audiences.
  • Experience with program management tools such as Jira, Confluence, Asana, or similar platforms.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience in aviation, aerospace, defense, or other safety-critical industries.
  • Familiarity with DO-178C, ARP4754A, or other aviation software development standards.
  • Experience with AI/ML product development, data platforms, or autonomy systems.
  • Background in embedded systems, flight operations software, or avionics software integration.
  • PMP, PgMP, or SAFe certification.

Compensation: For this position, we drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company's strategy. Actual compensation offered will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

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 $207,400 - $259,200. Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

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.

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 people@archer.com. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

 

Information collected and processed as part of any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Archer's Candidate Privacy Policy.
Archer is unable to provide work visa sponsorship for this position at the present time.
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.
Archer Aviation does not engage with external recruiting agencies/individual recruiters with whom it does not have a prior written agreement. Archer reserves the right to make use of any unsolicited resumes that it receives and bears no responsibility for payment of any fees asserted from the use of unsolicited resumes. If you are a recruiting agency or individual recruiter wishing to do business with Archer, please reach out to People@archer.com. All employment processes are managed by the Archer People Team.

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