Manufacturing Test Engineering Manager

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.

About The Team

This role sits within Manufacturing Engineering and leads the team responsible for aircraft-level functional and end-of-line testing as each vehicle is manufactured. As a Manager, you will build, mentor, and direct a high-performing engineering team to ensure every aircraft meets strict performance, integration, and system-level standards before delivery or progression into flight testing.

You will drive the team's strategy in validating that each individual build behaves as intended by verifying systems, software, electrical behavior, and overall functional readiness. Additionally, you will establish scalable test processes, optimize shop-floor execution, and partner closely with Design, Quality, and Operations to seamlessly guide aircraft programs from prototype to full-rate production.

What You’ll Do:

• Build and scale the organization: Lead two dedicated teams across Test Operations & Execution and Test Development & Design to support daily production and next-generation automation. 
• Own the functional test lifecycle: Drive end-to-end testing across avionics, low-voltage, and high-voltage systems, managing everything from ATP authoring and floor execution to airworthiness compliance records. 
• Partner for testability: Collaborate with Design Engineering early in the development cycle to incorporate Design for Testability (DFT) and co-validate system test plans. 
• Drive strategy and scaling: Establish the manufacturing test roadmap from low-rate initial production to full-rate production, optimizing test capacity, coverage, and cycle times to match build rates. 
• Deliver test infrastructure and automation: Lead the design, capital planning, and qualification of test stands, fixtures, GSE, and automated test equipment to maximize throughput and repeatability. 
• Champion the automation roadmap: drive the transition from manual test execution toward automated test equipment, automated data collection, and test analytics that reduce test cycle time and increase production throughput