Shield AI is seeking a Staff or Sr. Staff Avionics Engineer, Electrical Systems to lead the design, development, integration, and verification of aircraft electrical systems for a new advanced autonomous aircraft. This role will own assigned electrical systems from requirements definition and architecture through component selection, detailed design, aircraft integration, ground and flight test, and production support.
This engineer will translate vehicle and avionics requirements into reliable electrical designs spanning power distribution, power conversion, circuit protection, grounding and bonding, wiring, and equipment interfaces. Working closely with Avionics, Mechanical, Systems Engineering, Flight Controls, Propulsion, Manufacturing, and Test teams, this individual will ensure electrical hardware integrates successfully across the aircraft.
The ideal candidate combines strong electrical engineering fundamentals with practical experience delivering flight hardware. They can independently lead complex subsystem development, resolve challenging integration issues, guide suppliers, and mentor engineers while maintaining disciplined requirements, documentation, and verification practices.
What you'll do:
- Own the requirements, architecture, design, and verification of assigned aircraft electrical systems, including power distribution, conversion, protection, switching, grounding, bonding, and electrical interfaces for avionics and vehicle equipment.
- Develop and maintain electrical schematics, interface control documents, equipment specifications, wiring requirements, and electrical load analyses. Evaluate operating modes, power budgets, voltage drop, transient behavior, fault conditions, and design margins to guide component selection and system sizing.
- Lead electrical integration across avionics, sensors, communications, actuation, propulsion interfaces, and supporting aircraft systems. Partner with mechanical and harness engineering teams to define connector selections, pin assignments, routing constraints, shielding, separation, and installation requirements.
- Define and execute verification activities from component testing through aircraft integration, ground testing, and flight test support. Develop test procedures, troubleshoot electrical anomalies, investigate failures, and implement corrective actions supported by analysis and test evidence.
- Lead technical reviews and supplier coordination for assigned systems, manage interfaces and engineering changes, and support manufacturing and production troubleshooting. Mentor engineers and improve design practices that strengthen reliability, maintainability, testability, and delivery quality.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline, with 7 or more years of relevant experience developing avionics, aircraft electrical systems, or comparable complex electrical hardware.
- Demonstrated ownership of electrical subsystem development through requirements definition, design, hardware integration, and verification, including experience with aircraft power distribution, power conversion, circuit protection, and equipment interfaces.
- Strong understanding of electrical load analysis, voltage drop, wire and connector sizing, grounding and bonding, shielding, electromagnetic compatibility, and fault isolation. Experience developing electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, interface definitions, and component specifications.
- Practical experience integrating and troubleshooting electrical hardware using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, programmable power supplies, electronic loads, and related laboratory equipment. Ability to develop test plans and interpret results at component, subsystem, and integrated system levels.
- Demonstrated ability to independently resolve complex technical problems, coordinate across engineering disciplines and suppliers, and communicate design decisions and risks clearly. Experience maintaining requirements traceability, configuration control, and verification documentation.
Preferred qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Experience developing electrical systems for manned aircraft, autonomous aircraft, uncrewed aircraft, advanced aviation platforms, or other flight critical aerospace applications, including ground and flight test support.
- Experience with battery systems, generators, power electronics, redundant power architectures, load shedding, power sequencing, and electrical fault detection and protection strategies.
- Familiarity with applicable aerospace environmental qualification, electrical power quality, electromagnetic compatibility, and airworthiness practices.
- Experience using electrical design tools, along with requirements and configuration management systems. Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
- 7 or more years of relevant experience developing avionics, aircraft electrical systems, or comparable complex electrical hardware
- Experience owning electrical subsystem development through requirements definition, design, hardware integration, and verification
- Experience with aircraft power distribution, power conversion, circuit protection, and equipment interfaces
- Knowledge of electrical load analysis, voltage drop, wire and connector sizing, grounding and bonding, shielding, electromagnetic compatibility, and fault isolation
- Experience developing electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, interface definitions, and component specifications
- Experience integrating and troubleshooting electrical hardware using oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, programmable power supplies, electronic loads, and related laboratory equipment
- Ability to develop test plans and interpret component, subsystem, and integrated-system test results
- Ability to independently resolve complex technical problems and coordinate across engineering disciplines and suppliers
- Experience maintaining requirements traceability, configuration control, and verification documentation
- Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
- Experience developing electrical systems for manned, autonomous, or uncrewed aircraft or other flight-critical aerospace applications
- Experience supporting ground and flight testing
- Experience with battery systems, generators, power electronics, redundant power architectures, load shedding, power sequencing, and electrical fault detection and protection
- Familiarity with aerospace environmental qualification, electrical power quality, electromagnetic compatibility, and airworthiness practices
- Experience using electrical design tools and requirements and configuration management systems
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security 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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