PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- California-based Archer Aviation Inc. (“Archer" or the “Company”), a leading Urban Air Mobility company and developer of all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (“eVTOL”) aircraft, today announced two new hires: Tosha Perkins, who has joined the company as Chief People Officer and Andy Missan, who has joined as Chief Legal Officer. In her role, Perkins will manage hiring efforts and develop the company culture as Archer continues to grow its industry-leading team. Missan will bring robust strategic legal guidance, as Archer transitions to a public company following the completion of the proposed business combination with Atlas Crest Investment Corp. (“Atlas Crest”) (NYSE: ACIC), which is expected to close this fall.
As Archer continues to grow, Perkins will focus on recruiting the best engineers, business leaders, finance minds, and more. With years of experience with large public company human resources and talent recruitment, she will craft talent acquisition strategies to build strong pipelines for future hiring needs, promoting diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace, and designing and evaluating career paths to meet the company’s business goals. Perkins’ addition will help bolster Archer’s team with new talent who will help lead the way to the company’s planned commercial launch in 2024.
Prior to joining Archer, Perkins was the Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President at McDermott International Inc, where she was globally responsible for all human resources functions and supported 40,000 employees across 54 countries. Prior to McDermott International Inc, Perkins held leadership roles at several large consulting firms, including Slalom and Accenture. Perkins earned her B.S. in psychology from Texas State University and a Ph.D. from Alliant International University in industrial/organizational psychology.
“While I have held various human resource positions throughout my career, it's incredibly rare to step into a startup that has already assembled an amazing team of some of the finest minds in its industry,” said Tosha Perkins. “I'm honored to be trusted with expanding the tremendous talent at Archer and to support the company's work towards a more sustainable future.”
In his new role, Missan will manage all aspects of Archer’s legal affairs, including corporate governance, compliance, strategic contracts, litigation, government affairs, and regulatory matters. His deep experience in the legal profession will support Archer's business efforts, as well as help navigate the novel legal issues in the burgeoning Urban Air Mobility market.
Missan previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Fitbit, where he helped guide the company through complex legal challenges during a tremendous period of growth from private to public company, and ultimately worked with Fitbit’s finance and management teams to complete the sale of Fitbit. Prior to Fitbit, he built legal departments as General Counsel in a number of cutting-edge technology companies, including Bytemobile, MobiTV and Danger. Missan graduated from Oberlin College where he earned his B.A. in Government, and earned a J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
“It’s an exhilarating opportunity to join Archer and continue to develop the legal function for a team that is creating such a transformational product and defining a new industry," Missan said.
“As Archer continues to grow as a company, leadership support will become more important than ever. Adding Tosha and Andy will not only continue our superior hiring history, but will also bring an industry perspective that will be instrumental in Archer’s development,” said Adam Goldstein, Archer co-founder and co-CEO. “With increased legal and human resource support, we are bolstering the team we need for certification and beyond.”
“We took our time hiring into these key leadership positions with the hopes of finding the perfect fit for our growing company, and recruiting Tosha and Andy proved to be worth the wait,” said Brett Adcock, Archer co-founder and co-CEO. “With combined decades of experience in their respective fields, we are confident that they will provide the necessary foundation for the continued growth of Archer.”
Archer is expected to close its merger with Atlas Crest this fall, adding to a year of significant milestones. Most notably, Archer recently unveiled its demonstrator aircraft, Maker, which allowed consumers worldwide to virtually step inside the aircraft and envision a trip in Archer’s commercial aircraft ahead of its planned commercial launch in 2024.
Now, the company’s focus is geared towards certification and its commercial launch in approximately three years’ time. Continue to follow along with Archer’s journey via www.archer.com.
