Staff Aerostructures Design Engineer - Ranger

About the role

Shield AI, a defense-tech company developing autonomous aircraft such as V-BAT and X-BAT, is seeking a Staff Aerostructures Design Engineer to support the development of structural components for its next-generation autonomous aircraft. You will design and develop high-performance structural components from concept through production release, working cross-functionally to ensure structural integrity, manufacturability and system integration.

Key responsibilities

• Design and develop structural components and assemblies for the next-generation UAV platform.
• Run the full design lifecycle: conceptual development, initial CAD modeling, detailed design and drawing release.
• Perform hand calculations for stress or strain with limited basic FEA analysis, with guidance from senior engineers.
• Work with aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, payload and manufacturing teams on system integration across airframe interfaces.
• Support structural validation including coupon testing, subcomponent testing and system-level verification.
• Produce design documentation, drawings, interface definitions and analysis reports in line with aerospace standards.
• Help resolve build issues with manufacturing and flight test teams and support hardware through test and deployment.
• Take part in design reviews and present work clearly, while improving your own knowledge of structural layout, joints, fasteners, tolerancing and optimization.

Required profile

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in aircraft structural design or closely related aerospace structures.
• Experience designing and releasing structural components in development or production environments.
• Working knowledge of composite and metallic structures, including fasteners, bonded joints and load paths.
• Strong written and verbal technical communication and ability to thrive in fast-paced, high-ownership engineering environments.

Required skills

• Proficiency in CAD tools (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks or similar).
• Understanding of GD&T, tolerance stackups and DFMA principles.
• Preferred: M.S. degree, UAV/DoD/aerospace program experience, familiarity with MIL-STD, ASME Y14.5 and FAA standards, and FEA tool experience (ANSYS, Abaqus, NASTRAN or similar).