Senior Staff Engineer, Avionics Systems (R6238)

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

As a Staff Systems Engineer on Shield AI's next gen UAS program, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and integrating cutting-edge autonomous aircraft systems for national defense.

Responsibilities

• System Architecture & Design: Develop and refine the avionics architecture for the next gen UAS, covering flight and mission computers, data networks, navigation, communications, sensor payloads, and their interfaces with autonomy and propulsion.
• System Behavior & Safety: Define and document system-level behavior, including modes, states, transitions, redundancy management, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery.
• Requirements & Interface Management: Establish top-level requirements, break them down into avionics subsystem requirements, and own the interface control documents (ICDs), keeping them traceable across the development lifecycle.
• Navigation & Communications: Define navigation architectures, including GPS/INS and alternative navigation for GPS-denied operations.
• Avionics Integration: Lead integration of avionics hardware and data buses.
• Autonomy Integration: Work with the autonomy and software teams to make sure the avionics architecture provides the compute, sensor data, and determinism that flight control and mission execution need.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Work with DoD stakeholders, industry partners, and avionics suppliers to align system capabilities with operational requirements.

Requirements

• Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree
• Demonstrated experience defining system behavior logic, operational modes, and redundancy and fault management
• Deep expertise in avionics architecture and integration
• Proficiency in MBSE, DOORS, SysML, Cameo, or similar system modeling tools
• Experience with Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, military aircraft, or autonomous airborne platforms
• Strong background in avionics integration, hardware/software integration labs, flight testing, and performance validation
• Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes, airworthiness, and avionics standards
• Experience on a developmental program from clean sheet to first flight
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, agile environment with shifting priorities
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance