Senior Staff Engineer, Mission Systems (R3929)

United States·WashingtonFull Time Employeesenior

OtherEngineerStaff Engineer

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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. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

This senior staff engineer for mission systems will serve as a senior technical leader responsible for the end-to-end engineering of mission systems on advanced next-gen unmanned aircraft, including payloads, communications, avionics, weapons, and associated support systems. This individual will shape the technical direction of programs, ensuring that the aircraft deliver decisive mission capabilities through robust, integrated, and certifiable system designs.

In this role, the engineer will drive mission system architectures, lead requirement development and allocation, and oversee system integration from concept through flight test and fielding. They will ensure that payloads, avionics, and weapons are seamlessly integrated into the aircraft while meeting mission performance, safety, airworthiness, and compliance objectives.

Lead system architecture and requirements development and integration for payloads, avionics, and weapons integration

Serve as a technical subject matter expert for mission systems engineering across the aircraft program

Drive trade studies and system-of-systems analysis to balance performance, cost, and schedule

Oversee integration and test campaigns, from bench-level hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) to flight test

Ensure compliance with MIL-HDBK-516C, DO-178C, DO-254, and related standards

Collaborate with program management to de-risk architectures and ensure technical maturity gates are met

Interface with customers, partners, and suppliers to align system requirements and certifications

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field

8+ years of relevant aerospace/defense experience, with at least 5 years in mission systems integration

Demonstrated experience with aircraft payloads, avionics, and/or weapons integration

Demonstrated experience with line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight aircraft communications systems and components

Working knowledge of Government modular open system approach (MOSA) standards to include open mission systems (OMS), Government Reference Architectures (GRA) or modular avionics standards

Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver complex systems to fielded capability

Strong knowledge of systems engineering processes and product development lifecycle

Familiarity with DO-178C/DO-254 certification requirements for software and hardware

Excellent communication skills and ability to brief technical findings to executives and customers

Active Secret clearance and have the ability to obtain a Top-Secret clearance

Master’s or PhD in Aerospace, Systems, or Electrical Engineering

Hands-on experience with flight test operations and mission system validation

Direct experience integrating advanced sensors, autonomy, AI-enabled payloads, or guided weapons

Background in model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and SysML tools

Strong knowledge of current aircraft mission systems vendors and capabilities

Active DoD Top Secret clearance