Application Guide

How to Apply for Data Architect

at Vertical Aerospace

🏢 About Vertical Aerospace

Vertical Aerospace is at the forefront of electric aviation, developing the Valo eVTOL aircraft to revolutionize personal air travel with zero emissions. As a fast-growing SME transitioning from prototype to certification, they are redefining aerospace best practices and targeting airliner-level safety certification by 2028. Working here means contributing to a mission-driven team that is shaping the future of sustainable flight.

About This Role

As a Data Architect, you will define and maintain the target data architecture across the organization, ensuring consistency between enterprise and time-series domains. You'll balance long-term architectural strategy with hands-on implementation of pipelines, models, and platform components, collaborating closely with data engineers, BI developers, and software teams. This role is critical to enabling data-driven decisions for safety-critical certification and operational efficiency.

💡 A Day in the Life

You might start by reviewing telemetry data pipeline performance, then meet with software engineers to align on data models for a new flight test campaign. Afternoon could involve designing a data governance framework for certification compliance and mentoring a data engineer on best practices for streaming data ingestion.

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Interview Prep

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🎯 Who Vertical Aerospace Is Looking For

  • Expert in designing scalable data architectures, with experience in both enterprise data (e.g., data lakes, warehouses) and time-series data (e.g., sensor telemetry, aircraft logs).
  • Hands-on proficiency in building data pipelines using modern tools (e.g., Apache Spark, Kafka, Airflow) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
  • Strong understanding of data governance, data quality, and security practices, especially in regulated industries (aerospace, automotive, medical devices).
  • Excellent cross-functional communicator able to translate business requirements into technical architecture and mentor junior team members.

📝 Tips for Applying to Vertical Aerospace

1

Highlight any experience with time-series data, IoT, or telemetry systems, as this is critical for aircraft sensor data.

2

Emphasize work in regulated environments (e.g., DO-178C, ISO 26262, or similar) to show you understand safety-critical data management.

3

Showcase specific examples of balancing long-term architecture with hands-on delivery, e.g., migrating from legacy systems to modern data platforms.

4

Tailor your CV to include quantifiable impacts, such as improved data processing speed or reduced data silos.

5

Mention familiarity with aerospace-specific data standards (e.g., ARINC, ATA Spec 2000) if applicable, or willingness to learn.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Passion for sustainable aviation and how your data architecture skills can directly contribute to certifying and scaling eVTOL aircraft.', 'Proven ability to design data systems that handle both operational and analytical workloads, especially time-series data.', "Experience in a fast-growing company or startup where you've balanced strategic planning with hands-on execution.", 'Understanding of data governance and quality in a safety-critical context, and how your work ensures compliance with aerospace regulations.']

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Study Vertical Aerospace's Valo aircraft specifications, certification timeline, and any publicly available technical papers or patents.
  • → Understand the eVTOL industry landscape, including competitors (e.g., Joby, Lilium) and regulatory frameworks (EASA, FAA).
  • → Review their recent news, funding rounds, and partnerships (e.g., with airlines or suppliers) to gauge company growth and culture.
  • → Familiarize yourself with aerospace data standards (ARINC 429, 664) and how they apply to aircraft data management.

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How would you design a data architecture to handle high-frequency telemetry from thousands of aircraft flights, while integrating with enterprise systems (ERP, CRM)?
2 Describe a time you balanced a long-term architectural vision with immediate business needs. What trade-offs did you make?
3 How do you ensure data quality and consistency across heterogeneous data sources, especially in a regulated environment?
4 Walk us through your approach to selecting a data platform (e.g., cloud data warehouse vs. data lake) for a company scaling from prototype to production.
5 How would you collaborate with software engineers and BI developers to ensure data pipelines are reliable and scalable?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Submitting a generic cover letter that doesn't mention aviation, eVTOL, or the specific challenges of time-series data.
  • Overemphasizing experience with non-scalable legacy systems without showing how you've modernized or migrated data architectures.
  • Failing to demonstrate hands-on technical skills; this role requires both architecture and implementation, so avoid being too abstract.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Vertical Aerospace!

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