Flight Test Planning Specialist

Archer; United States; Remote; USD 962,000 - 1,324,000; Full time

Job summary

Archer Aviation, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is a leader in the next-gen aerospace sector building an end-to-end mobility platform for air taxis, UAS, and aviation AI. This role focuses on flight test operations and regulatory compliance across commercial and defense projects.

The position requires a strong background in flight test planning, FAA certification programs, and safety risk management, with proven collaboration and meticulous attention to detail.

Qualifications

• Bachelors/Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Engineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in flight test operations.
• Strong knowledge of airworthiness certification flight test programs and regulatory requirements.
• Experience with safety risk management processes related to flight testing or complex operational testing.
• Proficiency in planning/executing ground and flight tests within certification or military projects.
• Exceptional collaboration and interpersonal skills.
• Highly organized with a strong attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Develop flight test plans traceable to FAA certification requirements.
• Partner with subsystem engineering to understand system design intent, failure modes, and risk areas, translating into test procedures.
• Lead or support Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs) coordinating inputs from engineering, safety, and operations to confirm readiness to fly.
• Author and maintain test plan documentation, including matrices, procedures, instrumentation and data requirements, and pass/fail criteria.
• Coordinate with certification engineers and FAA representatives to ensure test plans and results support certification basis and findings.
• Contribute to lessons-learned and process improvement to speed up future test planning cycles.

Skills

Flight test operations

Regulatory knowledge

Collaboration

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelors/Master s Degree in Aerospace Engineering

Job description

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.

What you’ll do:

• Develop flight test plans that trace directly to FAA certification basis requirements, ensuring test objectives, success criteria, and instrumentation needs are clearly defined and defensible to regulators.
• Partner with subsystem engineering to understand system design intent, failure modes, and areas of technical risk, and translate that understanding into test procedures that adequately probe the system.
• Lead or support Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs), coordinating inputs from engineering, safety, and operations to confirm a test point is ready to fly.
• Author and maintain test plan documentation, including test point matrices, procedures, instrumentation and data requirements, and pass/fail criteria.
• Coordinate with certification engineers and, where applicable, FAA representatives to ensure test plans and results support the certification basis and compliance findings.
• Contribute to lessons-learned and process improvement efforts to make future test planning cycles faster and more rigorous

What you need:

• Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Engineering, or a related field
• 10+ years of experience in flight test operations
• Strong knowledge of airworthiness certification flight test programs and regulatory requirements
• Experience with safety risk management processes related to flight testing or complex operational testing
• Proficiency in planning/executing ground and flight tests within certification or military projects
• Exceptional collaboration and interpersonal skills
• Highly organized with a strong attention to detail

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 $96,300 - $132,400 USD. Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

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 [e-mail] . 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 .

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.

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 [e-mail] . All employment processes are managed by the Archer People Team.