Program Manager, GNC Software
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. What You’ll Do: Archer is seeking an experienced GNC Engineering Project Manager to lead program execution within our Guidance, Navigation & Control discipline. You will be the primary driver of schedule, delivery, and cross-team coordination for all GNC deliverables — spanning flight control laws, state estimation, navigation systems, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing infrastructure. This is a deeply technical program management role that requires both aerospace domain fluency and exceptional organizational leadership. You will partner closely with GNC engineers, Systems Engineering, Flight Test, Software, and Certification to ensure GNC milestones support the overall Midnight aircraft development and certification program. Own and maintain the GNC integrated master schedule (IMS), encompassing control law development, state estimation, software releases, HIL/SIL test campaigns, and flight test readiness milestones Develop detailed work breakdown structures (WBS) for GNC workstreams; decompose engineering deliverables into trackable tasks with clear owners and due dates Track and report on ticket velocity, backlog health, and closure rates using Jira or equivalent tools Proactively identify schedule risks, model impacts, and drive mitigation plans in coordination with GNC technical leads and program leadership Align GNC sub-schedules with the aircraft-level IMS and certification plan; surface conflicts early and facilitate resolution across disciplines Serve as the primary interface between the GNC engineering team and adjacent disciplines including Powertrain, Flight Software, Systems Engineering, Flight Test, and Certification Facilitate weekly GNC program reviews, sprint ceremonies, and monthly milestone gate reviews; own meeting agendas, minutes, and action tracking Coordinate GNC inputs into aircraft-level PDRs, CDRs, software milestones, and certification compliance reviews; ensure teams are prepared and documentation is delivered on time Manage dependencies between GNC software releases and HIL/SIL test infrastructure; track readiness gates for each flight test campaign Track GNC headcount, contractor spend, tooling, and simulation infrastructure costs against approved budgets; report actuals and forecasts monthly Support engineering resource planning — identif...