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Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Lead development, sustainment, and improvement of production equipment, test racks, and test cells. Own equipment lifecycle, troubleshoot failures, drive RAM improvements, maintain documentation, support upgrades and acceptance testing, mentor junior staff, and manage vendors to ensure production readiness, safety, and scalability.
Summary Generated by Built In
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
We are seeking a Staff Equipment Engineer to lead the development, sustainment, and improvement of production equipment, test racks, and test cells supporting manufacturing and system-level testing. This role is highly hands-on and works closely with Manufacturing, Test, Quality, and Design Engineering teams to ensure equipment reliability, scalability, and readiness for production. The ideal candidate has deep experience supporting complex electromechanical equipment in a production environment and driving improvements across safety, uptime, and throughput.
What you'll do:
- Own the technical lifecycle of production equipment, test racks, and test cells, from production readiness through sustainment and continuous improvement
- Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of equipment failures, downtime events, and test anomalies; implement corrective and preventive actions
- Drive equipment reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) improvements to support production goals
- Develop and maintain equipment documentation including schematics, BOMs, calibration plans, maintenance procedures, and operating instructions
- Collaborate with Manufacturing, Test, and Quality teams to ensure equipment meets production, safety, and compliance requirements
- Support equipment upgrades, obsolescence management, and capacity expansion as production scales
- Define and execute equipment acceptance testing, validation, and handoff to production
- Mentor junior engineers and technicians and provide technical leadership across equipment-related efforts
- Manage external vendors and integrators as needed for equipment design, build, or modification
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field
- 8+ years of experience supporting production equipment, test racks, or test cells in a manufacturing or test environment
- Strong hands-on experience with electromechanical systems, controls, instrumentation, and data acquisition
- Proven ability to troubleshoot complex equipment issues across hardware, software, and controls domains
- Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation for production equipment
- Ability to work effectively on the factory floor and in cross-functional engineering teams
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience supporting automated or semi-automated production and test equipment
- Familiarity with PLCs, HMIs, industrial networks, or test software (e.g., LabVIEW, Python, or similar)
- Experience with equipment safety standards, lockout/tagout, and risk assessments
- Background in scaling equipment from prototype or low-rate production to higher-rate manufacturing
- Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical projects without direct authority
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Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, or related field
- 8+ years supporting production equipment, test racks, or test cells in manufacturing or test environment
- Strong hands-on experience with electromechanical systems, controls, instrumentation, and data acquisition
- Proven ability to troubleshoot complex equipment issues across hardware, software, and controls domains
- Experience developing and maintaining technical documentation for production equipment (schematics, BOMs, maintenance procedures)
- Ability to work effectively on the factory floor and in cross-functional engineering teams
- Experience supporting automated or semi-automated production and test equipment
- Familiarity with PLCs, HMIs, industrial networks, or test software (e.g., LabVIEW, Python)
- Experience with equipment safety standards, lockout/tagout, and risk assessments
- Background in scaling equipment from prototype or low-rate production to higher-rate manufacturing
- Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical projects without direct authority
What the Team is Saying
Dylan
Lead Engineer, Planning and Controls-Motion
Mo
Lead Engineer, Platform Automation
Willy
Technical Director
Michael
Engineering Manager - State Estimation
Vibhav
Senior Staff Engineer
Kirby
Mechanical Engineer
Ryan
CEO
Evan
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
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
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The Company
What We Do
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide.
Why Work With Us
What makes Shield AI special is our people. We unlock the power of autonomy, and in the face of overwhelming odds and challenges, we find ways to win and make a difference for our customers. We bring together software, AI, and aerospace engineering disciplines to deploy the most intelligent aviation capabilities in the world.
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Typical time on-site:
3 days a week
