{"id":206779,"url":"https://alion.io/job/archer-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance","title":"Aerodynamics Engineer – Conceptual Sizing & Performance","company":{"id":6898,"name":"Archer Aviation","domain":"archer.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/archer","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":92,"open_postings":96,"ghost_share":0.052,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0.01,"time_to_fill_p50_days":102,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":null,"employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Jose, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":152800,"max":227600,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":227600},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"OpenFOAM","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"STAR-CCM+","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-01T01:06:19Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-02","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T10:29:38Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":52,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":52},"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.\nOur 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.\nTHE ROLE\nAs Aerodynamics/Performance Engineer, you will conceptually size the primary aerodynamic surfaces and estimate the performance of a next-generation eVTOL, using low-fidelity aerodynamic tools and handbook methods to build the vehicle's drag polar, trim it across the flight envelope, and support vehicle-level configuration trades with aerodynamic and performance feedback.\nWHAT YOU'LL DO\nConceptually size the primary aerodynamic surfaces (wing, tail/empennage) for a tiltrotor/eVTOL configuration against mission requirements across different use cases.\nUse low-fidelity aerodynamic tools such as AVL, OpenVSP, or similar, together with handbook methods (e.g., Hoerner, Roskam), to build up the vehicle's drag polar across the flight envelope.\nTrim the vehicle across representative flight conditions - hover, transition, and cruise - and generate trim lines/schedules.\nEstimate vehicle performance (range, endurance, speed, climb) from integrated aerodynamic and propulsion data.\nConduct mission-level performance analysis across representative use cases (e.g., payload-range trades, hover ceiling, best-range/best-endurance speeds) to inform vehicle-level sizing and configuration trades.\nProvide aerodynamic feedback into vehicle-level configuration trades (surface sizing, control effectiveness, stability margins).\nCollaborate with the vehicle and powertrain architects to close overall vehicle performance against mission requirements.\nWHAT YOU'LL DO\nConceptual aerodynamic design experience using low-fidelity aerodynamic tools such as AVL, OpenVSP/VSPAERO, XFOIL, or similar is required.\nStrong grounding in handbook-based aerodynamic sizing methods (e.g., Hoerner, Roskam) is required.\nTrim and flight mechanics analysis across flight regimes, including hover, transition, and cruise.\nExperience with vehicle performance estimation methodologies (range/endurance/speed).\nTiltrotor and rotorcraft aerodynamics/performance experience is desired.\nExperience with CFD solvers such as NASA codes (e.g., OVERFLOW, FUN3D), StarCCM+, Fluent, OpenFOAM), or similar is desired.\nExperience with rotorcraft comprehensive analysis tools such as RCAS, CAMRAD II, or similar is desired.\nProficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar for aero data reduction and analysis.\nAt Archer, we aim to attract, retain, and motivate talent with the skills and leadership needed to grow our business. We drive a pay-for-performance culture and reward performance that supports the Company’s strategy. For this position, we are targeting a base pay range of $152,800 - $227,600. Actual compensation offered will be determined by job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. \n\nArcher 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 . Reasonable accommodations will be determined on a case-by-case basis.\nInformation collected and processed as part of any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Archer's Candidate Privacy Policy.\nCertain positions may be eligible for visa sponsorship.\nArcher 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.\nArcher 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 . All employment processes are managed by the Archer People Team.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4991,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Aerospace Manufacturing","Aircraft Manufacturing"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-05T07:55:12Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 91","filings_12m":91,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":192500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":75,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.834,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":52,"expected_fill_days":102,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":227600,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/archer-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/archer-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-23T11:42:33Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":17704,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-24T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":6898},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=6898"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Farcher-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Farcher-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Farcher-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/archer-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Farcher-aviation-aerodynamics-engineer-conceptual-sizing-performance"}]}