Description
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
This staff engineer for mission systems will serve as a senior technical leader responsible for the end-to-end engineering of mission systems on advanced next-gen unmanned aircraft, including payloads, communications, avionics, weapons, and associated support systems.
Responsibilities
- Lead system architecture and requirements development and integration for payloads, avionics, and weapons integration
- Serve as a technical subject matter expert for mission systems engineering across the aircraft program
- Drive trade studies and system-of-systems analysis to balance performance, cost, and schedule
- Oversee integration and test campaigns, from bench-level hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) to flight test
- Ensure compliance with MIL-HDBK-516C, DO-178C, DO-254, and related standards
- Collaborate with program management to de-risk architectures and ensure technical maturity gates are met
- Interface with customers, partners, and suppliers to align system requirements and certifications
Required Qualifications
- B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field
- Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of relevant Aerospace/defense experience, with at least 5 years in mission systems integration
- Demonstrated experience with aircraft payloads, avionics, and/or weapons integration
- Demonstrated experience with line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight aircraft communications systems and components
- Working knowledge of Government modular open system approach (MOSA) standards to include open mission systems (OMS), Government Reference Architectures (GRA) or modular avionics standards
- Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver complex systems to fielded capability
- Strong knowledge of systems engineering processes and product development lifecycle
- Familiarity with DO-178C/DO-254 certification requirements for software and hardware
- Excellent communication skills and ability to brief technical findings to executives and customers
- Active Secret clearance and have the ability to obtain a Top-Secret clearance
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s or PhD in Aerospace, Systems, or Electrical Engineering
- Hands-on experience with flight test operations and mission system validation
- Direct experience integrating advanced sensors, autonomy, AI-enabled payloads, or guided weapons
- Background in model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and SysML tools
- Strong knowledge of current aircraft mission systems vendors and capabilities
- Active DoD Secret clearance