What you'll do:
- Provide technical leadership to the RF team focusing on the VBAT product line.
- Quantify and optimize RF link performance, resolve defense/interference problems.
- Define system level and unit level design requirements and features for all RF systems.
- Improve design, test, and compliance processes for the engineering org. as it related to RF.
- Define test procedures, requirements, and train operators/technicians to execute accordingly.
- Help grow the team, provide hiring input, and mentor teammates.
- Establish and enforce team processes around design, test, review, cross-functional support, and regulatory compliance.
- Regularly communicate with the cross-functional team regarding RF status, risks, needs, plans, etc.
- Provide technical design input/review to your team and other engineering teams.
- Proactively identify opportunities for improvement within hardware development projects, demonstrating initiative to propose and implement innovative solutions that enhance efficiency, quality, and overall project success and V-Bat reliability
- Other duties as assigned.
Required qualifications:
- Active U.S. Secret security clearance; Top Secret clearance strongly preferred
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent experience with RF systems
- Experience working on cross-functional teams involving EE, ME, SW, manufacturing, production, etc.
- Experience with technical mentorship/guidance of other engineers.
- Experience leading design work on the unit level and system level.
- Experience with quantifying and improving RF sensitivity performance.
- Demonstrated track record of assuming ownership over development processes and features and delivering outstanding outcomes.
- Proven track record of successfully shipping products, showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions to meet project deadlines and exceed client expectations in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.
Preferred qualifications:
- Knowledge of antenna design and aircraft level radiation performance analysis and simulation, utilizing tools such as CST & ANSYS.
- Experience in RF and Antenna design, antenna coupling analysis for airborne V/UHF, L-band, S-band, GNSS, and MIL-SAT systems.
- Demonstrated RF analysis experiences in frequency planning, RF Co-site, Antenna Coupling, and the production of analysis report.
- Experience with EMI/EMC compliance techniques, with a particular emphasis on optimizing size, weight and power.
- Knowledge of MIL-STD 461 and MIL-STD 464 compliance requirements and test setups.
- RF system, subsystem and printed circuit assembly EMI/EMC simulation, test and mitigation.
- Experience working on cutting-edge autonomous robotic systems
- Proven background in thriving within fast-paced environments, particularly within startup or R&D settings.
- Demonstrated adaptability, agility, and the ability to innovate under pressure to meet dynamic project demands and drive successful outcomes.
Skills Required
- Active U.S. Secret security clearance
- Top Secret clearance (strongly preferred)
- B.S. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent RF systems experience
- Experience working on cross-functional teams (EE, ME, SW, manufacturing, production)
- Experience providing technical mentorship/guidance to other engineers
- Experience leading unit-level and system-level design work
- Experience quantifying and improving RF sensitivity and link performance
- Proven track record of shipping products through development cycles
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
- Knowledge of antenna design and aircraft-level radiation performance analysis and simulation (CST & ANSYS)
- Experience in RF and antenna design and coupling analysis for airborne V/UHF, L-band, S-band, GNSS, MIL-SAT
- Experience with EMI/EMC compliance techniques and MIL-STD-461 / MIL-STD-464 requirements
- Experience with RF system, subsystem and printed circuit assembly EMI/EMC simulation, testing and mitigation
- Experience working on autonomous robotic systems or in fast-paced R&D/startup environments
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental-health support, with company materials describing excellent coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are comprehensive and consistently highlighted across official and third-party benefit lists.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full-time hires, with RSU structures and tools like Carta Tax intended to improve understanding and tax timing. Feedback suggests this broad-based ownership approach is a notable component of total rewards.
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Parental & Family Support — Benefits include paid parental leave, fertility support, childcare benefits, family medical leave, and onsite resources such as a Mother's Room. Feedback suggests the family-oriented offerings are more expansive than basic coverage.
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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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
