We are seeking a Weapons Systems Engineer to lead the integration, validation, and operational deployment of advanced weapon capabilities on X-Bat. This role directly impacts mission readiness, combat effectiveness, aircraft survivability, and program execution by ensuring weapon systems are successfully integrated, tested, and fielded to operational users.
The engineer will work across the full lifecycle from requirements development through flight test, helping reduce integration risk, accelerate capability delivery, and improve overall mission system performance.
What you'll do:
- Define weapon system behaviors, operational sequences, and mission workflows to ensure reliable and predictable weapon employment across all phases of operation
- Develop system architectures, activity diagrams, interface definitions, and functional behaviors for aircraft weapon systems and mission system integration
- Lead integration of weapon systems, stores management systems, and avionics interfaces while coordinating across software, avionics, flight sciences, mechanical design, and test teams
- Support lab, ground, and flight test activities to validate system behavior, identify integration issues early, and improve mission system reliability
- Perform troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and corrective action development to reduce integration risk, improve operational readiness, and accelerate capability fielding
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field
- 5+ years of experience in military aerospace, mission systems, avionics, or weapon systems integration
- Experience defining system behavior, operational concepts, activity diagrams, or functional architectures for complex aerospace systems
- Familiarity with MIL-STD-1760, MIL-STD-1553, and hardware/software integration environments
- Strong systems engineering, troubleshooting, and cross-functional communication skills
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience supporting fighter aircraft, UAV, bomber, or advanced military aircraft programs
- Experience with MBSE methodologies and tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler
- Background in HIL/SIL integration labs, flight test, or operational weapon system validation
- Familiarity with airworthiness, cybersecurity, and resilient mission systems
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Electrical, Systems, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field
- 5+ years experience in military aerospace, mission systems, avionics, or weapon systems integration
- Experience defining system behavior, operational concepts, activity diagrams, or functional architectures for complex aerospace systems
- Familiarity with MIL-STD-1760, MIL-STD-1553, and hardware/software integration environments
- Strong systems engineering, troubleshooting, and cross-functional communication skills
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
- Experience supporting fighter aircraft, UAV, bomber, or advanced military aircraft programs
- Experience with MBSE methodologies and tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler
- Background in HIL/SIL integration labs, flight test, or operational weapon system validation
- Familiarity with airworthiness, cybersecurity, and resilient mission systems
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
