Staff Engineer – Fluid & Mechanical Systems (RX)

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineer (L4) to own fluid‑system layouts, thermal transport hardware, and related mechanical designs for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. The role blends first‑principles engineering with rapid decision‑making to turn concepts into operational capability for defense‑focused autonomous platforms.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and mature aircraft fluid system layouts for ram‑air circuits, liquid cooling loops, ECS/TMS fluid circuits, and hydraulic distribution, including routing and packaging.
• Perform pressure‑drop, flow‑balance, pump and reservoir sizing, and thermal‑transport capacity calculations.
• Build and maintain fluid and thermal system models using tools such as Flowmaster, AMESim, or GFSSP.
• Design supporting mechanical hardware—brackets, mounts, line supports—and conduct tolerance analysis, clearance assessments, hand calculations, and basic FEA.
• Select and specify pumps, valves, heat exchangers, accumulators, filters, lines, fittings, and actuators for fluid and actuated system installations.
• Resolve integration interfaces with structures, EWIS, thermal management, electrical power, and adjacent mechanical systems.
• Support failure‑mode analysis, contamination control, leak prevention, and system‑level redundancy definition.
• Define and execute qualification test plans per MIL‑STD‑810 and support MIL‑HDBK‑516 airworthiness certification.

Required profile

• U.S. citizen with an active Secret clearance or higher.
• 7–12 years of fluid‑systems design, thermal analysis, or mechanical installation experience in aerospace or a regulated industry.
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Deep mastery of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mechanical design fundamentals, and tolerance stack‑up methodologies.
• Proven ability to create fluid‑system layouts that satisfy routing, packaging, maintainability, and vehicle‑integration requirements.
• Hands‑on experience with 3D CAD modeling and PLM workflows (Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks).
• Experience sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components and driving supplier execution.
• Self‑directed, able to prioritize tasks and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines.

Required skills

• Fluid system sizing and pressure‑drop calculations.
• Modeling tools: Flowmaster, AMESim, GFSSP (or equivalent).
• 3D CAD: Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks.
• Tolerance analysis and basic finite‑element analysis (FEA).
• Knowledge of MIL‑STD‑810 and MIL‑HDBK‑516 airworthiness verification.