Staff Engineer, Aircraft Thermal Systems (RX)

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead thermal analysis, design, and integration for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. The role combines first‑principles modeling, rapid prototyping, and hands‑on hardware development to deliver robust thermal management solutions in a fast‑paced defense environment.

Key responsibilities

• Define and mature aircraft‑level thermal environments and cooling solutions for vehicle bays, hot surfaces, and other critical installations.
• Perform first‑principles heat‑transfer and fluid‑mechanics calculations, then develop analytical, finite‑difference, and CFD models.
• Design active and passive cooling systems, including airflow ducting, thermal interfaces, and heat‑rejection paths.
• Generate thermal requirements, assess technical risks, and balance performance with power, mass, volume, and maintainability constraints.
• Create thermal hardware layouts and CAD models, resolving interfaces with structures, avionics, fluid systems, and EWIS.
• Define qualification and verification test plans, design test rigs, and correlate models with test data.
• Author technical specifications, evaluate suppliers, and drive prototype build and testing.
• Execute qualification testing per MIL‑STD‑810 and support MIL‑HDBK‑516 airworthiness certification.
• Communicate findings through design reviews, technical reports, and cross‑disciplinary guidance.

Required profile

• Active US Secret clearance (US citizens only).
• 7‑12 years of direct aerospace thermal engineering or environmental control systems experience.
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Required skills

• Thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics applied to aircraft systems.
• First‑principles hand calculations and finite‑difference methods.
• CFD and thermal‑analysis tools such as FloEFD, STAR‑CCM+, and Thermal Desktop.
• 3D CAD modeling and PLM workflows (Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks).