As a Staff Systems Integration Engineer you will provide technical leadership for the integration of major aircraft systems across the full product development lifecycle. You will establish subsystem installation architectures, guide multidisciplinary engineering teams, and lead complex integration efforts involving structures, avionics, propulsion, electrical systems, manufacturing, and suppliers.
In this role, you will influence technical direction beyond your immediate assignments by developing integration strategies, improving engineering processes, and mentoring engineers across multiple programs.
The ideal candidate is a recognized technical leader with extensive experience integrating complex aircraft systems. They possess exceptional engineering judgment, are trusted to solve the organization's most challenging multidisciplinary integration problems, and consistently drive improvements in aircraft design, manufacturability, reliability, and engineering execution through collaboration and technical leadership.
What You'll Do
- Serve as the technical lead for integration of major aircraft systems across multiple engineering disciplines.
- Establish subsystem installation architecture and interface strategies for mechanical, electrical, avionics, and fluid systems.
- Lead multidisciplinary packaging studies balancing aircraft performance, manufacturability, maintainability, reliability, and serviceability.
- Develop engineering standards for installation design, routing practices, CAD modeling, drawing quality, and configuration management.
- Lead complex engineering investigations involving aircraft integration, manufacturing, supplier issues, or field problems.
- Review and approve installation drawings, BOM structures, engineering changes, and configuration baselines.
- Guide prototype builds, manufacturing readiness, and production integration activities.
- Lead technical coordination with Systems Owners, Structures, Stress, Manufacturing and Supply Chain organizations.
- Mentor engineers across multiple programs while driving technical consistency throughout the organization.
- Manage technical scope, schedule, risks, and engineering execution for major aircraft development efforts.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related discipline.
- 7+ years of experience developing and integrating aircraft or complex aerospace systems.
- Demonstrated ownership of major aircraft subsystem integration from concept through production.
- Advanced aircraft installation design experience, including packaging, mounting, maintainability, and interface definition.
- Advanced CAD and PLM expertise with CATIA, NX, Creo, Teamcenter, Windchill, 3DEXPERIENCE, or equivalent tools.
- Strong experience designing machined, fabricated, sheet metal, and installation hardware.
- Experience leading EWIS, hydraulic, ECS, fuel, pneumatic, or similar aircraft routing design.
- Expert-level drawing development and release experience for part, assembly, and installation drawings.
- Advanced GD&T and tolerance stack-up capability.
- Experience managing BOMs, product structures, engineering changes, and configuration baselines.
- Experience supporting manufacturing, build, installation, MRB, supplier, and production readiness activities.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional technical teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience leading integration on aircraft, autonomous aircraft, defense, eVTOL, or advanced aerospace programs.
- Experience performing structural analysis, hand calculations, load path assessments, or margin development.
- Experience with FEA for static, modal, vibration, fatigue, or thermal problems.
- Hands-on experience supporting build, production, testing, or hardware validation activities.
- Experience developing installation design standards, routing standards, or CAD/PLM best practices.
- Eperience mentoring engineers and reviewing technical work across multiple disciplines.
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 — 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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
