As a Staff Systems Engineer on Shield AI's next gen UAS program, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and integrating the Launch & Recovery Vehicle (LRV), the system that transports, deploys, launches, and recovers our autonomous aircraft in a variety of environments. You will lead the technical execution of system architecture, ensuring seamless integration of avionics, hydraulics, electrical power distribution, navigation, and the mechanical, electrical, and data interfaces to the aircraft.
You will work with the air vehicle’s propulsion, hardware, software, flight operations, and manufacturing teams to deliver a mobile, mission-ready LRV that works as part of the full UAS platform. You will also help shape how the system is transported, emplaced, and operated in the field. That means developing CONOPs that set deployment timelines, crew roles, logistics footprint, and how the system survives in the field.
Required qualifications:
- System Architecture & Design: Develop and refine the LRV architecture, integrating avionics, hydraulics, electrical power distribution, navigation, and launch and recovery mechanisms into one vehicle that works reliably.
- System Behavior & Safety: Define and document LRV modes, states, transitions, and fault responses for transport, emplacement, launch, recovery, and stow. Support safety analyses (FHA, FMEA, FTA) by defining behavior under fault conditions.
- Requirements Management: Establish top-level LRV requirements, break them down into subsystem requirements, and maintain traceability across the development lifecycle.
- CONOPs Development: Develop transportation and deployment CONOPs that cover road, air, and ship transportability, rapid relocation, crew workload, and sustainment. Turn these operational needs into system requirements.
- Trade Studies & Risk Management: Conduct trade studies to evaluate design alternatives, assess technical risks, and ensure the best engineering solutions for mission effectiveness.
- Integration & Test: Support LRV integration, ground testing, and verification, and support combined LRV and aircraft testing through flight test and operational deployment.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Work with DoD stakeholders, end users, and industry partners to align LRV capabilities and CONOPs with operational requirements.
Required qualifications:
- Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree
- Demonstrated experience defining system architecture, behavior logic, and operational modes for complex electromechanical systems
- Experience integrating avionics, hydraulic systems, electrical power distribution, and navigation on vehicles, launch and recovery systems, or ground support equipment
- Proficiency in MBSE tools such as SysML, Cameo, DOORS, or similar
- Experience developing or applying CONOPs, including transportability, deployment, and field operations considerations
- Strong background in system integration, test, and performance validation, ideally on a program taken from clean sheet to first operation
- Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes and relevant standards (e.g., MIL-STD-882, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-1275, MIL-STD-1366, MIL-STD-1472)
- 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 launch and recovery systems for Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, catapult or rail launchers, or military tactical vehicles
- Experience with expeditionary or distributed operations concepts and their logistics and sustainment needs
- Familiarity with modular open system architectures (MOSA) and Government Reference Architectures (GRA)
- Prior experience working with defense primes, DoD stakeholders, or government R&D programs
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
Skills Required
- Minimum 7 years of related experience with a bachelor's degree
- Experience defining system architecture, behavior logic, and operational modes for complex electromechanical systems
- Experience integrating avionics, hydraulic systems, electrical power distribution, and navigation on vehicles, launch and recovery systems, or ground support equipment
- Proficiency in MBSE tools such as SysML, Cameo, DOORS, or similar
- Experience developing or applying CONOPs, including transportability, deployment, and field operations considerations
- Strong background in system integration, testing, and performance validation, ideally on a program taken from clean sheet to first operation
- Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes and standards including MIL-STD-882, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-1275, MIL-STD-1366, and MIL-STD-1472
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, agile environment with shifting priorities
- Ability to obtain an S//SAR level security clearance
- Experience with launch and recovery systems for Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, catapult or rail launchers, or military tactical vehicles
- Experience with expeditionary or distributed operations concepts and their logistics and sustainment needs
- Familiarity with modular open system architectures and Government Reference Architectures
- Prior experience working with defense primes, DoD stakeholders, or government R&D programs
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
What the Team is Saying
Shield Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are described as strong and affordable, and offerings include a mental-health assistance program. Overall impressions point to good plan value for many employees.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer matching is highlighted positively, with accounts describing a company match and favorable experiences. Current match formulas and vesting are noted as worth confirming.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Full-time hires receive equity (often via RSUs), positioned as a meaningful component of total rewards. A double-trigger structure is noted as potentially deferring taxes until a liquidity event.
Shield Insights
What We Do
At Shield 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 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.
