Shield AI is seeking a Senior Propulsion Engineer to serve as the propulsion SME for the V-BAT Fleet Support team. In this role, you will be the customer-facing engineering lead for escalated propulsion issues across the fielded fleet. You will act as the bridge between Fleet Support and the core propulsion, vehicle, manufacturing, and quality engineering teams to diagnose issues, drive root cause, and improve fleet reliability.
This role is ideal for an engineer who combines strong propulsion fundamentals with practical field troubleshooting experience and a customer-first mindset.
What you'll do:
- Serve as the propulsion SME for Fleet Support and the primary engineering point of contact for propulsion-related escalations.
- Diagnose and resolve engine performance issues, including hard starts, unstable operation, power loss, thermal excursions, endurance degradation, and intermittent behavior.
- Troubleshoot engine mechanical and hardware issues, including vibration, wear, leaks, mounting or interface issues, actuator concerns, and component failures.
- Investigate fuel and oil system issues, including pressure, flow, filtration, contamination, venting, priming, lubrication, and thermal-management problems.
- Analyze flight data, maintenance records, teardown findings, and field reports to identify failure modes and define corrective actions.
- Develop troubleshooting procedures, inspection criteria, repair guidance, and return-to-service recommendations for Fleet Support personnel and customers.
- Partner with propulsion, air vehicle, quality, manufacturing, and supplier teams to drive permanent corrective actions and reliability improvements.
- Capture recurring fleet issues and translate them into engineering recommendations, service actions, and long-term design improvements.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
- 6+ years of experience in aircraft, rotorcraft, unmanned aircraft system, or propulsion engineering.
- Strong hands-on experience with engine systems, fuel systems, oil systems, thermal behavior, vibration, and mechanical root-cause analysis.
- Experience troubleshooting fielded hardware and working from ambiguous or incomplete failure reports.
- Ability to analyze technical data from flight, test, maintenance, and inspection activities.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in cross-functional and customer-facing environments.
- Ability to possess a Secret DoD security clearance as required by customers
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience with heavy-fuel or small-aircraft propulsion systems.
- Experience supporting deployed, expeditionary, or maritime systems.
- Experience with corrective action processes, reliability improvement, or supplier-quality coordination.
- Comfort working in fast-paced field environments and supporting customer-site troubleshooting.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline
- 6+ years experience in aircraft, rotorcraft, UAS, or propulsion engineering
- Hands-on experience with engine systems, fuel systems, oil systems, thermal behavior, vibration, and mechanical root-cause analysis
- Experience troubleshooting fielded hardware and working from ambiguous or incomplete failure reports
- Ability to analyze technical data from flight, test, maintenance, and inspection activities
- Strong written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional and customer-facing environments
- Ability to possess a Secret DoD security clearance as required by customers
- Experience with heavy-fuel or small-aircraft propulsion systems
- Experience supporting deployed, expeditionary, or maritime systems
- Experience with corrective action processes, reliability improvement, or supplier-quality coordination
- Comfort working in fast-paced field environments and supporting customer-site troubleshooting
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials describe excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside a mental‑health EAP. Site perks such as an onsite gym in DC and a gym discount in San Diego support a health‑focused offering.
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Retirement Support — Careers materials highlight a 401(k) with company match as part of the standard package. A Total Rewards overview emphasizes retirement features within a broader, transparent compensation view.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation for in‑demand technical and senior go‑to‑market roles is described as competitive, with visible engineering ranges and top‑end packages. This points to meaningful upside tied to role, level, and scarce skills.
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.
