The Associate Quality Engineer supports Quality Engineering activities throughout the development of XBAT, a first-of-a-kind aerospace and defense product. This role partners closely with Design Engineering, Systems Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Test, Supply Chain, and Program Management to identify and mitigate product and process risks as the product moves from development toward production.
This role will help establish quality into the product development process rather than relying on inspection to detect problems after the fact. The role provides hands-on support for risk management, root cause analysis, verification and validation activities, configuration and change control, nonconformance management, and development process compliance.
This is an early-career engineering role with significant opportunity to develop expertise in aerospace product development, quality engineering, and product assurance.
What you'll do:
- Support Quality Engineering activities across the XBAT product development lifecycle.
- Partner with Design Engineering to identify product risks and establish appropriate controls.
- Participate in design reviews, manufacturing readiness reviews, test reviews, and other development milestones from a quality perspective.
- Support investigation and root cause analysis of prototype, test, and manufacturing failures.
- Lead or support RCCA activities using structured problem-solving methodologies.
- Support management of nonconforming material and prototype hardware, including containment, investigation, disposition, and documentation.
- Evaluate engineering and manufacturing changes for quality risks and support implementation of appropriate verification activities.
- Support development of inspection, test, and verification strategies based on product risk.
- Support First Article Inspection and other product verification activities as XBAT transitions toward production.
- Support audits and assessments of XBAT development processes against AS9100, customer, contractual, and program requirements.
- Develop and maintain quality documentation, procedures, checklists, and objective evidence.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Quality Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
- 0–3 years of engineering, quality, manufacturing, test, or related experience.
Preferred qualifications:
- Internship, co-op, or project experience in aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, electronics, or other complex product development.
- Familiarity with AS9100 or other aerospace/quality management systems.
- Experience with root cause analysis, 8D, RCCA, CAPA, DMAIC, or similar methodologies.
- Familiarity with FMEA, risk management, or reliability engineering.
- Experience participating in design reviews, test activities, or product development projects.
- Understanding of configuration management and engineering change processes.
- Familiarity with GD&T and engineering drawings.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Quality Engineering, or a related engineering discipline
- 0-3 years of engineering, quality, manufacturing, test, or related experience
- Internship, co-op, or project experience in aerospace, defense, automotive, robotics, electronics, or other complex product development
- Familiarity with AS9100 or other aerospace or quality management systems
- Experience with root cause analysis, 8D, RCCA, CAPA, DMAIC, or similar methodologies
- Familiarity with FMEA, risk management, or reliability engineering
- Experience participating in design reviews, test activities, or product development projects
- Understanding of configuration management and engineering change processes
- Familiarity with GD&T and engineering drawings
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, with dental/vision and mental‑health support, and ancillary protections like life and disability appearing in benefit summaries. The breadth and perceived affordability of coverage are highlighted as a standout component of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is featured alongside enhanced maternity benefits, fertility and childcare support, and onsite resources such as a Mother’s Room. These elements are positioned as competitive and above the minimal baseline for the company’s stage.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full‑time hires, with RSUs, double‑trigger tax timing, and tools to model scenarios (e.g., through Carta Tax). Communications also reference a transition from options to RSUs, reinforcing access and maturity of ownership programs.
Shield AI Insights
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
