Staff Backend Software Engineer, Archer
$163.2-200k
Office located in San Jose, CA
Urban air mobility developer
Open for applications
Urban air mobility developer
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$163.2-200k
Office located in San Jose, CA
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To accelerate the benefits of sustainable air mobility.
Role
Who you are
- Small but mighty, 0 to 1 builder mentality
- BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field
- 7+ years of backend software engineering experience, with a proven track record of delivering scalable backend systems
- Expert-level proficiency in Python for backend application development
- Strong experience with AWS, including services such as Lambda, API Gateway, S3, DynamoDB, ECS/Fargate, etc
- Proficiency with infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or AWS CDK
- Deep understanding of RESTful API design, microservices architecture, and distributed systems
- Experience with performance tuning, system monitoring, and observability tools
- Excellent debugging, analytical, and problem-solving skills
- Strong communication and collaboration skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders
Desirable
- 9+ years of experience as a backend engineer, with demonstrated leadership in complex system design
- Experience with data modeling and working with SQL and NoSQL databases (e.g., Postgres, DynamoDB)
- Background in high-availability, real-time systems or event-driven architectures
- Prior experience in aerospace, transportation, or rideshare industries
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and container orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes)
What the job involves
- Design, develop, and maintain scalable backend systems and APIs to support Archer’s ride-sharing and airline operational platforms
- Build cloud-native applications and services using Python and AWS technologies
- Lead architectural design and system integrations, ensuring systems are modular, efficient, and secure
- Develop infrastructure-as-code using Terraform or AWS CDK to provision and manage backend environments
- Collaborate with stakeholders to define technical requirements and translate them into robust implementations
- Own the full development lifecycle—from design and development to deployment, monitoring, and maintenance
- Conduct code reviews, enforce engineering best practices, and mentor fellow engineers
- Monitor system performance and reliability, and respond to production issues with effective debugging and root cause analysis
Our take
Electric air taxis may sound like a pipedream, but companies like Archer are in the process of testing models that they hope to begin producing at scale in 2025. Designed to be quiet and efficient, its current model can fly at speeds of 150 miles per hour and cover 60 miles per flight. With urban transport in mind, these air taxis are both greener and vastly more efficient than traditional vehicles.
Given the congestion and pollution issues that many cities are facing, it's easy to imagine such transport taking over. It’s also worth noting that although Archer plans to run them with human pilots initially, the company has automation as part of its long-term goals.
Other players exist in this space: EHang, a Chinese firm, flew its first aerial taxi in America in 2020. However, Archer has big backers and customers such as United Airlines (acting both as an investor and launch customer) and manufacturing partner Stellantis with whom it is mass-producing its flagship Midnight eVTOL aircraft.
There's certainly a growing demand for clean transport without sacrificing speed, but many barriers still remain in Archer's way as it must help to initiate a seismic shift in transportation infrastructure and behaviors to reach mass adoption. That being said, it has the funding behind it, raising close to $2 billion in post-IPO funding since 2021.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
44% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Jul 2020
$55.7m
SERIES A
Total funding: $55.7m
Company HQ
Tasman and Zanker, San Jose, CA
Leadership
Adam Goldstein
(CEO)Started their career in financial services, before co-founding Vettery, a talent marketplace, in 2012. Founded Archer in 2018.
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