Shield AI is seeking a Spatial Integration Design Engineer to lead the design and physical integration of secondary support structures, subsystem installations, and vehicle routing architecture across the platform. This role is heavily focused on mechanical design, packaging, and installation definition within a highly constrained aerospace environment.
This engineer will own the design and development of support hardware, LRU installations, and routing solutions for EWIS, hydraulic, ECS, fuel, and mechanical systems. This includes concept development, CAD modeling, trade studies, structural and fitment analysis, drawing release, procurement support, and installation strategy development.
The ideal candidate has strong aerospace mechanical design experience, excellent spatial reasoning skills, and a deep understanding of vehicle integration constraints including maintainability, manufacturability, accessibility, thermal management, and assembly sequencing.
What You'll Do
- Lead the mechanical design and spatial integration of secondary support structures and subsystem installations across the vehicle
- Design brackets, trays, mounting provisions, equipment racks, supports, clips, and installation hardware
- Develop and maintain vehicle-level LRU layouts and packaging architectures
- Design routing solutions and installation provisions for:
- EWIS harnessing
- Hydraulic lines
- ECS ducting
- Fuel plumbing
- Pneumatic systems
- Perform CAD-based integration and packaging studies to resolve spatial conflicts and optimize vehicle layouts
- Generate detailed 3D models, installation drawings, interface definitions, and engineering release packages
- Perform fitment, tolerance, and installation analyses to validate integration solutions
- Develop installation strategies including assembly sequencing, accessibility, tooling access, and maintainability considerations
- Coordinate with manufacturing, structures, avionics, systems engineering, and test teams to ensure integration compatibility
- Support procurement and fabrication activities for designed hardware
- Support prototype build and vehicle integration activities by resolving installation and interference issues
- Participate in design reviews including PDR, CDR, and manufacturing readiness reviews
- Manage the CAD product structure for BOM exports
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
- Experience designing mechanical hardware and integrated aerospace installations
- Strong proficiency with CAD tools such as CATIA or Siemens NX
- Experience sizing parts for various failure scenarios
- Experience creating detailed engineering drawings and installation definitions
- Strong understanding of aerospace integration and packaging principles
- Familiarity with EWIS routing and subsystem installation constraints
- Experience integrating hydraulic, ECS, fuel, or mechanical systems within aircraft or vehicle platforms
- Understanding of GD&T, tolerance stack-up, and installation analysis principles
- Ability to balance structural, thermal, manufacturing, accessibility, and maintainability constraints within designs
- Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with military aircraft, spacecraft, UAVs, or advanced aerospace systems
- Experience supporting prototype builds or vehicle assembly activities
- Familiarity with aerospace installation and EWIS standards
- Experience with digital mock-up (DMU) and clash detection workflows
- Understanding of structural load paths and equipment mounting considerations
- Experience with PLM and configuration management systems
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field
- Experience designing mechanical hardware and integrated aerospace installations
- Strong proficiency with CAD tools such as CATIA or Siemens NX
- Experience sizing parts for various failure scenarios
- Experience creating detailed engineering drawings and installation definitions
- Strong understanding of aerospace integration and packaging principles
- Familiarity with EWIS routing and subsystem installation constraints
- Experience integrating hydraulic, ECS, fuel, or mechanical systems within aircraft or vehicle platforms
- Understanding of GD&T, tolerance stack-up, and installation analysis principles
- Ability to balance structural, thermal, manufacturing, accessibility, and maintainability constraints within designs
- Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
- Experience with military aircraft, spacecraft, UAVs, or advanced aerospace systems
- Experience supporting prototype builds or vehicle assembly activities
- Familiarity with aerospace installation and EWIS standards
- Experience with digital mock-up (DMU) and clash detection workflows
- Understanding of structural load paths and equipment mounting considerations
- Experience with PLM and configuration management systems
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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