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
Archer is transitioning from a pioneering R&D organization into a world-class OEM producing certified aircraft at scale. To enable this leap, we are seeking a Senior Manager of Supplier Industrialization Engineering & Quality (SIEQ)—a hybrid leader capable of solving today’s urgent supplier issues while building the long-term systems, teams, and processes that will allow production to run at rate with uncompromising quality.
This role is intentionally designed with parallel responsibilities:
- Acting as a hands-on problem solver and integrator for immediate supplier and manufacturability challenges.
- Being a strategic architect of supplier-readiness systems, audits, heat-maps, and selection frameworks.
- Functioning as a high-impact individual contributor while simultaneously building, mentoring, and uplifting a growing SIEQ team.
The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, brings “boots-on-the-ground” credibility, and can see several steps ahead to anticipate issues across aircraft systems, subsystems, and adjacent products.
What You’ll Do
1. Rapid Issue Resolution & Pre-Production Support
- Hit the ground running by taking ownership of critical supplier issues impacting pre-production aircraft readiness.
- Drive structured problem-solving (8D, RCCA, PFMEA updates) to ensure parts and assemblies meet engineering, safety, and airworthiness requirements.
- Maintain aircraft build continuity by removing supplier roadblocks and enabling smooth flow of hardware to the build line.
- Transform daily issues into actionable insights, conducting read-across analyses to anticipate similar risks in adjacent components, suppliers, and aircraft variants.
- Build real-time, transparent dashboards for leadership highlighting systemic risks, repeat issues, and emerging patterns.
2. Supplier Manufacturability, Readiness & Selection Systems
- Develop and refine manufacturability criteria and engineering requirements to ensure designs are ready for production at rate.
- Build supplier audit frameworks aligned with AS9100, AS9145, APQP, and Archer’s internal quality/industrialization standards.
- Create Supplier Selection Heat-Maps incorporating technical capability, capacity, historical quality, financial stability, and readiness level to accelerate decision-making during Technical Reviews.
- Lead cross-functional Technical Review Boards (TRBs), providing data-backed recommendations that strengthen design-for-manufacture (DFM), tooling readiness, and production scalability.
- Establish systematic Supplier Industrialization Plans covering process validation, tooling maturity, equipment qualification, materials control, and manpower readiness.
3. Leadership, Team Development & OEM Transformation
- Act as a high-performing individual contributor while building a world-class SIEQ team underneath.
- Mentor existing engineers and analysts, elevating technical capability, problem-solving rigor, and supplier management expectations.
- Define organizational structure, staffing needs, and competency expectations for a scalable supplier industrialization and quality function.
- Serve as a cultural leader, helping transition Archer from an R&D fast-prototype environment to an OEM mindset focused on repeatability, stability, and production quality.
- Champion mass-production fundamentals: APQP, PPAP, process capability, run-at-rate validations, control plan maturity, and launch readiness gates.
What You Bring
- 8–15 years of experience in Supplier Quality, Supplier Industrialization, Manufacturing Engineering, or NPI program leadership—preferably in aerospace, EV, automotive, high-precision manufacturing, or complex electromechanical products.
- Strong understanding of AS9100D, AS9145, APQP, PPAP, PFMEA, Control Plans, and process validation requirements.
- Demonstrated experience leading supplier readiness, scaling manufacturing processes, and supporting hardware builds in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to balance hands-on issue resolution with strategic system building.
- Experience building or transforming teams during high-growth or pre-production phases.
- Exceptional communication skills—capable of influencing technical leaders, VPs, and suppliers through data, clarity, and urgency.
- Highly analytical mindset with proficiency in dashboards, metrics, KPIs, and supplier performance models.
- A sense of ownership, urgency, and a passion for building systems that last.
Why This Role Matters
Archer’s ability to scale safely and predictably depends on flawless supplier industrialization. This role is at the center of that mission—solving issues today while designing the systems that will keep our production lines running tomorrow. You will be part of the engine that turns innovation into a certified aircraft built at rate, with uncompromising quality.
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 $153600 - $192000. Actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.