As a Staff Systems Engineer on Shield AI's next gen UAS program, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and integrating cutting-edge autonomous aircraft systems for national defense. You will lead the technical execution of the air vehicle avionics architecture, integrating flight computers, navigation, communications, sensor payloads, and mission systems with autonomy and propulsion.
This position requires a deep understanding of aerospace systems engineering, avionics architecture, and complex system integration. You will work with the hardware, software, autonomy, flight operations, and manufacturing teams to develop a scalable, mission-ready platform that can operate in contested environments.
Your expertise will be critical to defining avionics requirements and architectures through model-based systems engineering (MBSE). You will also run trade studies, ensure compliance with military and aviation standards, and support the aircraft through flight testing and operational deployment.
What you'll do:
- System Architecture & Design: Develop and refine the avionics architecture for the next gen UAS, covering flight and mission computers, data networks, navigation, communications, sensor payloads, and their interfaces with autonomy and propulsion.
- System Behavior & Safety: Define and document system-level behavior, including modes, states, transitions, redundancy management, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery. Support safety analyses (FHA, FMEA, FTA) by defining behavior under fault conditions.
- Requirements & Interface Management: Establish top-level requirements, break them down into avionics subsystem requirements, and own the interface control documents (ICDs), keeping them traceable across the development lifecycle.
- Navigation & Communications: Define navigation architectures, including GPS/INS and alternative navigation for GPS-denied operations. Also define datalink and communications architectures that keep command, control, and mission data reliable in contested environments.
- Avionics Integration: Lead integration of avionics hardware and data buses (e.g., Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, CAN), thermal, EMI/EMC, and environmental considerations.
- Autonomy Integration: Work with the autonomy and software teams to make sure the avionics architecture provides the compute, sensor data, and determinism that flight control and mission execution need.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Work with DoD stakeholders, industry partners, and avionics suppliers to align system capabilities with operational requirements.
Required qualifications:
- Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree
- Demonstrated experience defining system behavior logic, operational modes, and redundancy and fault management
- Deep expertise in avionics architecture and integration, including flight computers, navigation systems, datalinks, and avionics data buses
- Proficiency in MBSE, DOORS, SysML, Cameo, or similar system modeling tools for complex systems design and analysis
- Experience with Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, military aircraft, or autonomous airborne platforms
- Strong background in avionics integration, hardware/software integration labs, flight testing, and performance validation
- Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes, airworthiness (MIL-HDBK-516C), and avionics standards (e.g., MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-810, DO-178C, DO-254)
- Experience on a developmental program from clean sheet to first flight
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, agile environment with shifting priorities
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience with alternative navigation, assured PNT, or GPS-denied navigation solutions
- Expertise in sensor integration for airborne platforms
- Familiarity with modular open system architectures (MOSA), Government Reference Architectures (GRA), or open standards such as SOSA and FACE
- Experience developing or integrating AI-driven autonomy for unmanned aircraft
- Prior experience working with defense primes, DoD stakeholders, or government R&D programs
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree and typically at least 7 years of related experience
- Experience defining system behavior logic, operational modes, redundancy, and fault management
- Deep expertise in avionics architecture and integration, including flight computers, navigation systems, datalinks, and avionics data buses
- Proficiency in MBSE, DOORS, SysML, Cameo, or similar system modeling tools
- Experience with Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, military aircraft, or autonomous airborne platforms
- Experience with avionics integration, hardware/software integration laboratories, flight testing, and performance validation
- Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes, airworthiness requirements, and avionics standards including MIL-HDBK-516C, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-810, DO-178C, and DO-254
- Experience on a developmental program from clean sheet through first flight
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, agile environment
- Ability to obtain an S//SAR level security clearance
- Experience with alternative navigation, assured PNT, or GPS-denied navigation solutions
- Expertise in sensor integration for airborne platforms
- Familiarity with MOSA, GRA, SOSA, or FACE
- Experience developing or integrating AI-driven autonomy for unmanned aircraft
- Prior experience with defense primes, DoD stakeholders, or government R&D programs
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials highlight comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with mental-health support and an EAP. Third-party benefits summaries also portray health coverage as a strong component of the package.
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Retirement Support — Offerings include a 401(k) with employer matching, cited on the careers page and independent benefits directories. Multiple sources indicate a match exists, though exact formulas have varied over time and warrant confirmation.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Company communications describe equity for all full-time hires and stock benefits as part of total rewards. Independent listings also note company equity/RSUs as a standard element.
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.
