Chief eVTOL Architect

About the role

You will join an eVTOL aircraft company as the chief technical authority for the vehicle, the person whose judgment sets the architecture every program builds on. This role carries company-wide scope: configuration decisions, technology bets, certification approach, and the technical standards the entire engineering organization follows. Your decisions will shape the product line for a decade, and the industry will judge the company partly by the technical credibility you bring. You will carry ultimate technical accountability for the vehicle, which means making the hardest calls with incomplete data, and your judgment will be tested by regulators, competitors, and physics itself.

What you will achieve

• Define the vehicle and propulsion architecture for the product line, making the configuration choices the company commits its future to.
• Establish the technical governance process, from architecture reviews to engineering standards, that keeps a growing engineering organization aligned.
• Set the certification strategy in partnership with regulatory leadership, choosing the compliance path the programs execute against.
• Make the technology make-or-buy decisions, from battery chemistry to autonomy approaches, with the long view on cost, risk, and differentiation.
• Represent the company's technical vision to regulators, partners, and investors, with credibility earned from aircraft you have shipped. You translate complex technical tradeoffs into decisions non-engineers can understand and trust.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• 15 or more years developing aircraft or complex vehicles, including architecture-level ownership of at least one program through major milestones.
• Demonstrated record of vehicle architecture decisions validated by flight test, certification, or service, with lessons you can articulate.
• Deep understanding of electric propulsion, energy storage, and their system-level implications for aircraft design.
• Experience engaging directly with certification authorities on novel aircraft or systems.
• Ability to set technical direction for an organization of hundreds of engineers and hold the line under pressure.
• Executive-level communication: clear, decisive, and honest about technical risk with boards and regulators alike.

Nice-to-haves

• Leadership role in industry standards development for eVTOL or electric aviation.
• Experience across multiple aircraft programs or companies, bringing comparative judgment to architecture trades.
• Track record of building and leading chief engineer or fellow-level technical organizations.
• Background in advanced air mobility business strategy and market analysis.