Lead AI Enablement Engineer, Aerospace Programs

Archer • San Jose, CA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Archer is seeking a Lead AI Enablement Engineer for its Aerospace Programs. This role is crucial for accelerating program timelines by integrating AI-assisted workflows into the aerospace engineering organization. The successful candidate will own AI tooling adoption, develop strategies, build roadmaps, and directly contribute to building and implementing AI solutions. This is a senior individual contributor role focused on driving significant change and leverage across engineering teams, making AI-assisted workflows a standard practice. The goal is to enable engineers to work more efficiently, reduce manual processes, and ultimately speed up critical path timelines.

Requirements

• BS or higher in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or an equivalent physical-systems discipline.
• Deep understanding of actual engineering work, including loads analysis, test data, control systems, and CAD/CAE pipelines, to ensure credibility with senior aerospace engineers.
• 8+ years of experience in an engineering role on physical systems (aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, advanced manufacturing).
• A track record of impact that justifies a senior staff / principal-level hire.
• Genuine, sustained obsession with AI coding and agentic tools; daily use of tools like Claude Code, Cursor, or equivalents.
• Demonstrated ability to ship non-trivial projects using AI tools.
• Informed and opinionated views on AI tool effectiveness and future trends, backed by practical experience.
• Demonstrated ability to drive change across an engineering organization without direct authority.
• Strong programming fundamentals, with Python as a minimum requirement.
• Ability to build real, useful end-to-end tools and ship them to other engineers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in eVTOL, aviation, aerospace, or another safety-critical/regulated industry.
• Fluency with engineering tooling commonly used in aerospace: MATLAB, Python scientific stack, CAD/CAE (NX, ANSYS, Abaqus, etc.), test data systems, simulation pipelines.
• A public footprint demonstrating builder energy (e.g., side projects, open-source contributions, writing, talks).
• Hands-on experience with MCP, agent frameworks, evals, or building/maintaining internal LLM-powered tools at scale.
• Prior experience as the senior-most technical voice in a domain (e.g., staff/principal at a previous company).

Responsibilities

• Own the strategy for AI tooling adoption across aerospace engineering.
• Build the multi-quarter roadmap for AI tooling investment and make the case to engineering leadership.
• Embed with aerospace teams (structures, GN&C, propulsion, avionics, flight test, certification, manufacturing engineering) to identify workflows where AI tooling can provide the most significant gains.
• Build prototype tools to replace manual processes, aiming for rapid development (days, not quarters).
• Demonstrate the capabilities of AI tooling and productize or hand off developed solutions.
• Run enablement programs at all levels, including onboarding sessions, office hours, async documentation, and 1:1 coaching.
• Teach engineers how to effectively utilize AI tools.
• Identify and empower AI-curious engineers within aerospace teams to act as local champions.
• Maintain the internal toolkit, including prompt libraries, starter templates, internal MCP servers, and reference implementations.
• Partner with IT, security, and export control teams to ensure compliance with ITAR, data handling, and IP requirements.
• Rigorously track adoption and impact, including cycle-time savings, tools shipped, engineers onboarded, and workflows automated.
• Report on key metrics to engineering leadership and use data to prioritize future initiatives.
• Stay current with the latest AI models, agent technologies, IDE integrations, and other advancements.
• Act as the company's go-to expert on current AI capabilities.

Benefits

• Pay-for-performance culture
• Compensation based on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience
• Commitment to working with and providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and those with sincerely held religious beliefs.
• Archer's Candidate Privacy Policy governs data collection and processing.
• Archer is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior