As a Staff Quality Engineer, you will play a key role in shaping quality strategy, mentoring team members, and influencing cross-functional decisions without direct authority. This is an opportunity to work hands on with next generation aerospace technology and contribute directly to the delivery of highly reliable autonomous systems that will define the future of aviation.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience)
- 5+ years of experience in Quality, Manufacturing, or Process Engineering roles
- Demonstrated experience leading root cause analysis and implementing effective corrective and preventive actions (RCA/CAPA)
- Strong knowledge of quality systems and standards (AS9100 or similar)
- Experience supporting new product introduction (NPI) and scaling production in a manufacturing environment
- Proficiency in statistical analysis and process control methods (SPC, capability analysis, etc.)
- Proven ability to work cross-functionally and influence engineering, manufacturing, and supplier teams
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability industries
- ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Lean Six Sigma certification, or equivalent
- Knowledge of design for quality principles, including DFMEA, tolerance analysis, and design reviews
- Experience working with quality and manufacturing systems (QMS, MES, PLM) and data analysis tools
- Familiarity with advanced inspection or test methods (metrology, NDT, automated inspection, etc.)
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical field (or equivalent experience)
- 5+ years experience in Quality, Manufacturing, or Process Engineering roles
- Experience leading root cause analysis and implementing corrective and preventive actions (RCA/CAPA)
- Strong knowledge of quality systems and standards (AS9100 or similar)
- Experience supporting new product introduction (NPI) and scaling production
- Proficiency in statistical analysis and process control methods (SPC, capability analysis)
- Proven ability to work cross-functionally and influence engineering, manufacturing, and supplier teams
- Experience in aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability industries
- ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE), Lean Six Sigma certification, or equivalent
- Knowledge of design for quality principles, including DFMEA and tolerance analysis
- Experience working with quality and manufacturing systems (QMS, MES, PLM) and data analysis tools
- Familiarity with advanced inspection or test methods (metrology, NDT, automated inspection)
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 Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
