Technical Program Manager, Flight Test Instrumentation

Joby Aviation; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 113,000 - 196,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401(k) plan with company match

Employee stock purchase plan (ESPP)

Job summary

Joby Aviation is seeking a Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) Technical Program Manager to plan, coordinate, and drive instrumentation and flight test systems for experimental and certification campaigns. This role bridges hardware, software, and flight test operations to ensure on-time delivery and airworthiness compliance.

You will own master schedules, align across design and test teams, manage procurement and installation, and oversee calibration, data quality, and incident response.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related technical field.
• 3+ years in an engineering environment with responsibility for integrated engineering solutions.
• Familiarity with flight test instrumentation systems, including data acquisition, sensors, signal conditioning, and telemetry.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in a safety-critical environment.
• Experience using project management tools such as Smartsheet, Confluence, and/or JIRA.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain master FTI and Ground Control Station program schedules, tracking design development, hardware procurement, installation, ground verification and calibration milestones across multiple test campaigns.
• Coordinate across design, flight test, data analysts, and certification engineers to ensure systems meet program, regulatory, and safety requirements.
• Coordinate across instrumentation, supply chain, manufacturing, and flight test ops to ensure on-time delivery.
• Support qualification and acceptance testing of new instrumentation systems and sensors prior to flight operations.
• Ensure traceability of instrumentation calibration records and data quality assurance.
• Facilitate incident and anomaly response related to instrumentation failures, coordinating with engineering for root cause and corrective action.
• Develop and maintain status reports and escalate blockers, driving solutions to maintain momentum through design, build, and test phases.
• Manage the FTI & Ground Control Station budget, forecasting and expenditure tracking, vendor identification and purchasing.

Skills

Engineering coordination

Flight test instrumentation

Documentation & communication

Multi-project management

PM tools

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Electrical or Systems Engineering

Tools

Confluence

JIRA

Smartsheet

Job description

Imagine a piloted air taxi that takes off vertically, then quietly carries you and your fellow passengers over the congested city streets below, enabling you to spend more time with the people and places that matter most. At Joby, we've been working to make that dream a reality since 2009 and we're now in the final stages of certifying our aircraft with the FAA. With plans to launch our aircraft in the US and Dubai, we're now scaling manufacturing and preparing for the launch of our commercial service.

Overview

The Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI) Technical Program Manager (TPM) is responsible for planning, coordinating, and driving the successful delivery of instrumentation and flight test systems used in experimental and certification flight test campaigns. This role bridges hardware engineering, software integration, and flight test operations to ensure instrumentation is delivered on schedule, within scope, and to the quality standards required for airworthiness compliance. The FTI TPM thrives in a fast-paced, highly technical environment and brings structure to complex, multi-disciplinary development programs.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain master FTI and Ground Control Station program schedules, tracking design development, hardware procurement, installation, ground verification and system calibration, and instrumentation readiness milestones across multiple test campaigns
• Drive alignment across design engineers, flight test engineers, data analysts, and certification engineers to ensure flight test systems meet program, company, regulatory, and safety requirements for installation on experimental or type-certificated aircraft
• Coordinate across instrumentation engineers, supply chain, manufacturing, and flight test operations to ensure on-time delivery
• Support qualification and acceptance testing of new instrumentation systems and sensors prior to flight operations
• Ensure traceability of instrumentation calibration records and data quality assurance in accordance with program standards
• Facilitate incident and anomaly response related to instrumentation failures in the field, coordinating with engineering for root cause and corrective action
• Develop and maintain status reports and proactively identify and escalation blockers, driving creative solutions to maintain program momentum through design, build, and test phases
• Manage the FTI & Ground Control Station budget, including budget forecasting and expenditure tracking, vendor identification and purchasing.

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field
• 3+ years of experience in an engineering environment with demonstrated responsibility for developing and implementing highly integrated engineering solutions
• Familiarity with flight test instrumentation systems, including data acquisition systems, sensors, signal conditioning, and telemetry
• Strong understanding of the hardware development lifecycle, from early concept and design through manufacturing, integration, ground test, and flight test
• Demonstrated organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail in a safety-critical environment
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical topics to diverse audiences including engineers, test pilots, and executives
• Proven ability to simultaneously manage multiple high-paced engineering projects and competing priorities
• Experience with project management tools such as Smartsheet or similar project management tools, Confluence, and/or JIRA
• Proficiency in common workplace software including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications

Desired

• Experience supporting FAA or EASA type certification programs
• Hands-on experience with flight test instrumentation installation, checkout, or calibration
• Exposure to aircraft wiring, avionics integration, or structural instrumentation (strain gauges, accelerometers, pressure transducers)
• Knowledge of airworthiness requirements for test article modifications and experimental aircraft operations
• Exposure to mechanical design tools (SolidWorks, CATIA), DAQ software, and version control practices
• Experience coordinating engineering design revision cycles to address integration and in-service discrepancies.

Additional Information

Compensation at Joby is a combination of base pay and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The target base pay for this position is $113,000 - $195,800/yr. The compensation package will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Joby also offers a comprehensive benefits package, including paid time off, healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan with a company match, an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP), short-term and long-term disability coverage, life insurance, and more. Joby is an Equal Opportunity Employer