Are you a passionate and innovative product design engineer looking to help develop state-of-the-art AI and aircraft products? Are you eager to make a positive difference in the world? Do you want to work alongside mission driven and values focused teammates? Shield AI is just the place for you!
As a Principal Landing Gear Engineer, you will be responsible for contributing to the mechanical design and development of Shield AI's autonomous UAV products. You will help architect landing gear on next generation unmanned aerial platforms, perform the detailed design of landing gear, doors and related mechanisms, and will use best in class design and analysis tools. You will collaborate closely with internal and/or external partners to prototype, test and release products to production. You will also help ensure product features achieve performance, schedule and reliability goals.
What you'll do:
- Design electro-mechanical or hydro-mechanical landing gear for autonomous aircraft
- Own the full design process: concept, CAD design, analysis, tolerance stackups, material selection, and drawing release
- Perform structural and kinematic calculations and preliminary FEA
- Prototype, test, and iterate mechanism designs for functionality and reliability
- Collaborate with electrical, avionics, hydraulics, and structures teams
- Support pre-production builds, prototype integration, and ground/flight testing
Required qualifications:
- B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering
- 7+ years in mechanical or mechanism design
- Strong CAD skills (NX preferred)
- Experience with UAVs, aircraft, rotorcraft, or other landable air systems
- Kinematic analysis and optimization of retractable landing gear systems
- Knowledge of tire, wheel, and brake selection along with brake control systems
- Familiarity with nose wheel steering systems
- Structural analysis utilizing hand calculations and finite element methods
- FEA analysis: Modal, non-linear and linear, buckling, fatigue
- GD&T and tolerance stack-ups for mechanical systems
- Materials selection inclusive of alloys, heat treatments, allowables, and finishes
- Ability to work independently in fast-paced, cross-functional teams
Preferred qualifications:
- Familiarity with electro-mechanical actuators
- Proficiency in FMEA, DOE, and root cause analysis
- Hands-on machine shop or mechanic experience (professional or hobby)
- RTCA DO-160, MIL-STD-810, structural, actuated mechanism, or AS6053 drop testing experience
- Ability to thrive in startup, R&D, or defense innovation environments
Skills Required
- B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering
- 7+ years in mechanical or mechanism design
- Strong CAD skills (NX preferred)
- Experience with UAVs, aircraft, rotorcraft, or other landable air systems
- Kinematic analysis and optimization of retractable landing gear systems
- Knowledge of tire, wheel, and brake selection and brake control systems
- Familiarity with nose wheel steering systems
- Structural analysis using hand calculations and finite element methods
- FEA analysis experience: modal, non-linear and linear, buckling, fatigue
- GD&T and tolerance stack-ups for mechanical systems
- Materials selection knowledge: alloys, heat treatments, allowables, finishes
- Ability to work independently in fast-paced, cross-functional teams
- Familiarity with prototyping, testing, and iterating mechanism designs
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental-health support, with company materials describing excellent coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are comprehensive and consistently highlighted across official and third-party benefit lists.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full-time hires, with RSU structures and tools like Carta Tax intended to improve understanding and tax timing. Feedback suggests this broad-based ownership approach is a notable component of total rewards.
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Parental & Family Support — Benefits include paid parental leave, fertility support, childcare benefits, family medical leave, and onsite resources such as a Mother's Room. Feedback suggests the family-oriented offerings are more expansive than basic coverage.
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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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
