Staff Engineer, Mission Systems (R5893)

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

Requirements

• B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field
• 8+ 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

Benefits

• Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity