The Production Flight Test V-BAT Air Vehicle Operator is responsible for safely operating unmanned aircraft systems during production acceptance testing, system validation, troubleshooting, and delivery activities. This role works closely with flight test personnel, engineering, production, quality, maintenance, and program teams to verify that each aircraft meets established performance, configuration, and airworthiness requirements.
The ideal candidate is a disciplined and technically capable operator who can perform effectively in a fast-paced flight-test environment. This individual must be comfortable working through changing priorities, identifying and documenting aircraft discrepancies, and making sound operational decisions while maintaining safety and procedural compliance.
What you'll do:
Serve as the Air Vehicle Operator during production, acceptance, regression, and troubleshooting flights.
Safely operate the aircraft throughout all phases of flight in accordance with approved procedures, limitations, and test cards.
Conduct mission planning, preflight preparation, system configuration, and post-flight activities.
Review aircraft records, configurations, maintenance status, weather, airspace, and operational risk before flight.
Coordinate with flight test engineers, maintainers, production personnel, and other members of the flight crew.
Identify abnormal system behavior and support real-time troubleshooting during ground and flight operations.
Accurately document flight results, aircraft discrepancies, test-card completion, and operational observations.
Support the creation and disposition of nonconformance reports, corrective actions, and retest requirements.
Participate in flight briefs, debriefs, safety reviews, and operational risk assessments.
Provide clear feedback to engineering and production teams regarding aircraft performance, system functionality, and recurring issues.
Maintain proficiency and qualification on assigned aircraft, ground-control systems, and operating procedures.
Support aircraft delivery, customer acceptance activities, demonstrations, and field operations as required.
Assist with the development and improvement of checklists, test procedures, training materials, and flight-test processes.
Maintain a professional, safety-focused work environment and exercise stop-work authority when unsafe conditions exist.
Work flexible schedules, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, or extended shifts, based on weather and production requirements.
Required Qualifications:
Minimum of 2000 documented unmanned flight hours or 1000 manned flight hours
Experience conducting production acceptance flights, developmental testing, operational testing, or customer acceptance testing.
Knowledge of aircraft maintenance documentation, quality systems, and nonconformance-reporting processes.
Experience operating in controlled, restricted, or special-use airspace.
FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
Ability to obtain and maintain an FAA Class II Medical Certificate
Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret DoD security clearance
Ability to pass background check, drug screening, and customer-required medical/dental screenings
Willingness to travel up to 25% in support of CONUS and OCONUS test events and/or deployments
Proven ability to lead and operate independently in small teams, including in austere or high-tempo environments
Strong aviation judgment, decision-making, and risk management skills
Preferred Qualifications:
FAA Private Pilot License (PPL)
FAA Instrument Rating and/or Commercial Pilot License
Maritime or shipboard UAS operational experience
Demonstrated instructor experience (manned or unmanned aviation)
Experience troubleshooting aircraft hardware, software, navigation, propulsion, datalink, or flight-control issues.
Skills Required
- Minimum of 2,000 documented unmanned flight hours or 1,000 manned flight hours
- Experience conducting production acceptance, developmental, operational, or customer acceptance testing
- Knowledge of aircraft maintenance documentation, quality systems, and nonconformance reporting
- Experience operating in controlled, restricted, or special-use airspace
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
- Ability to obtain and maintain an FAA Class II Medical Certificate
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret DoD security clearance
- Ability to pass background, drug, and customer-required medical or dental screenings
- Willingness to travel up to 25% for CONUS and OCONUS test events or deployments
- Ability to lead and operate independently in small teams and austere, high-tempo environments
- Strong aviation judgment, decision-making, and risk management skills
- FAA Private Pilot License
- FAA Instrument Rating and/or Commercial Pilot License
- Maritime or shipboard UAS operational experience
- Instructor experience in manned or unmanned aviation
- Experience troubleshooting aircraft hardware, software, navigation, propulsion, datalink, or flight-control systems
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
-
Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, with dental/vision and mental‑health support, and ancillary protections like life and disability appearing in benefit summaries. The breadth and perceived affordability of coverage are highlighted as a standout component of the package.
-
Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is featured alongside enhanced maternity benefits, fertility and childcare support, and onsite resources such as a Mother’s Room. These elements are positioned as competitive and above the minimal baseline for the company’s stage.
-
Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full‑time hires, with RSUs, double‑trigger tax timing, and tools to model scenarios (e.g., through Carta Tax). Communications also reference a transition from options to RSUs, reinforcing access and maturity of ownership programs.
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.
Gallery
%203.jpg)
Shield AI Teams
.jpg)
Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
