Senior Staff Propulsion Engineer – Thrust Vector Control (TVC)

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a Propulsion Engineer to serve as the Responsible Engineer for the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system on X‑BAT. The role requires full lifecycle ownership from concept through design, integration, test, flight and operational support.

Key responsibilities

• Own the TVC system end‑to‑end, making all technical decisions from concept to flight.
• Define and manage system requirements, performance goals and mechanical/electrical interfaces.
• Design and integrate vectoring mechanisms with the engine and surrounding structure.
• Lead ground and flight testing, including instrumentation planning, data collection and performance evaluation.
• Analyze control authority, vectoring bandwidth and dynamic response across the flight envelope.
• Collaborate with controls, airframe and mission teams to ensure closed‑loop performance meets CONOPS requirements.
• Manage fault detection, failure investigations and reliability strategies.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical engineering or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in aerospace propulsion or flight control systems with subsystem ownership.
• Deep knowledge of nozzle dynamics, actuation systems, mechanical integration and structural/thermal constraints.
• Demonstrated experience in hardware development, test planning and flight‑test support.
• U.S. citizenship or ability to comply with ITAR; ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance is desired.

Required skills

• Python for performance analysis and data processing.
• ANSYS and FEA tools for mechanical and thermal modeling.
• Thermal and fluid modeling expertise.
• Siemens NX for CAD design.
• Teamcenter for configuration control.