# Senior Staff Engineer, Systems

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: San Diego
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $170,000-250,000 per year
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/0bad72df-12eb-45bf-ba1c-9f76f40b26f6?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_16680774-58e

## Description

We are seeking a GCS / Communications Systems Engineer to lead the development, integration, and validation of ground control station and communication architectures supporting advanced military aircraft and autonomous systems.

This role directly impacts mission effectiveness, command and control reliability, platform connectivity, and operational resiliency by ensuring robust communication between air, ground, and distributed mission systems.

The engineer will define system behaviours, operational workflows, and communication architectures across the full lifecycle, from concept development through flight and operational test.

This role plays a critical part in reducing integration risk, improving network resiliency, and accelerating deployment of mission-critical communication capabilities.

Responsibilities:

- Define GCS and communication system behaviours, operational workflows, and activity diagrams to ensure reliable command, control, telemetry, payload, and mission data exchange

- Develop and integrate communication architectures including RF links, SATCOM, LOS/BLOS datalinks, networking infrastructure, antennas, encryption devices, and mission control interfaces

- Lead cross-functional integration between avionics, mission systems, networking, cybersecurity, software, and test teams to improve system interoperability and reduce integration risk

- Develop and validate interface definitions, network architectures, link budgets, and communication performance requirements for airborne and ground-based systems

- Support lab, field, and flight test activities to troubleshoot communication issues, validate network performance, and improve operational resiliency and mission readiness

Required qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field

- 5+ years of experience in communications systems, networking, mission systems, or military aerospace integration

- Experience with GCS architectures, datalinks, RF systems, networking, or airborne communication systems

- Familiarity with LOS/BLOS communications, SATCOM, IP networking, encryption technologies, and hardware/software integration environments

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience supporting UAV, fighter aircraft, autonomous systems, or military communication networks

- Experience defining operational behaviours, activity diagrams, CONOPS, or system architectures using MBSE tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler

- Background in integration labs, flight test, network resiliency, or tactical communication systems

- Familiarity with cybersecurity, RMF, resilient communications, and contested environment operations

Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred

Additional Information

Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

## Skills

### Required
- GCS architectures
- datalinks
- RF systems
- networking
- airborne communication systems
- LOS/BLOS communications
- SATCOM
- IP networking
- encryption technologies
- hardware/software integration environments

### Nice to have
- UAV
- fighter aircraft
- autonomous systems
- military communication networks
- MBSE tools
- Cameo Systems Modeler
- integration labs
- flight test
- network resiliency
- tactical communication systems
- cybersecurity
- RMF
- resilient communications
- contested environment operations

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Source: [Apply at jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/0bad72df-12eb-45bf-ba1c-9f76f40b26f6?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)