Staff Engineer, Fuel Systems - Ranger Aircraft

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Fuel System Engineer to support the design, development, integration and fielding of a next-generation aircraft system for Project Ranger. You will act as the Responsible Engineer for the aircraft fuel system, owning technical execution from requirements and architecture through design, procurement, integration, build, test, flight and operational support. The role sits at the interface of propulsion, vehicle teams, suppliers and flight operations.

Key responsibilities

• Own requirements, architecture, interfaces, hardware and technical decisions for the fuel system from concept through operational deployment.
• Design, size and integrate fuel tanks, pumps, valves, plumbing, venting and pressurization systems, filtration, level sensing and associated hardware.
• Analyze fuel system performance across the aircraft envelope, including pressure and flow requirements, transient engine demand, elevated-G maneuvers, slosh, vapor pressure, cavitation, vapor ingestion and thermal effects.
• Lead technical design reviews, supplier engagements and hardware procurement, ensuring the system meets performance, mass, thermal, reliability, safety and mission requirements.
• Plan and run component, subsystem and vehicle-level testing, including instrumentation, procedures, data acquisition and performance validation.
• Analyze ground and flight data to validate performance, quantify margins, identify anomalies and drive improvements.
• Lead failure investigations and root cause efforts, and work with design, propulsion, controls, airframe, manufacturing, supply chain, test and flight teams to build, integrate and troubleshoot flight hardware.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in aerospace fuel systems, fluid systems, propulsion or related aircraft system development, with ownership of complex aerospace hardware.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and compressible and incompressible flow.
• Strong understanding of aerospace fuel system design, including pressure losses, pump performance, venting, vapor pressure, cavitation and transient flow.
• Hands-on experience with fluid system hardware integration, instrumentation, testing, flight support and technical failure investigations.
• Ability to drive ambiguous technical problems to measurable results in a fast-paced development environment.
• U.S. citizenship and active security clearance.

Required skills

• Strong proficiency in Python or similar tools for engineering analysis, data reduction and model correlation.
• Preferred: experience with high-performance, tactical or UAV fuel systems, elevated-G flight, and fuel system control hardware.
• Preferred: familiarity with GFSSP, REFPROP, CFD, ANSYS, FEA or similar thermal-fluid tools, and experience with aerospace suppliers.
• Preferred: background in rocket propulsion or propellant systems; M.S. or Ph.D. preferred.