Staff Engineer – Mission Systems

About the role

Shield AI is a venture‑backed defense‑tech company developing autonomous systems for unmanned aircraft. The Staff Engineer, Mission Systems will act as a senior technical leader responsible for end‑to‑end engineering of mission systems on next‑generation unmanned platforms, covering payloads, communications, avionics, weapons and support systems.

Key responsibilities

• Lead system architecture, requirements development and integration for payloads, avionics and weapons.
• Serve as the technical subject‑matter expert for mission systems across the aircraft program.
• Conduct trade studies and system‑of‑systems analyses to balance performance, cost and schedule.
• Oversee integration and test campaigns from bench‑level hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) to flight test.
• Ensure compliance with MIL‑HDBK‑516C, DO‑178C, DO‑254 and related standards.
• Collaborate with program management to de‑risk architectures and meet technical maturity gates.
• Interface with customers, partners and suppliers to align system requirements and certifications.

Required profile

• B.S. in Aerospace, Electrical, Systems Engineering or a related field.
• At least 7 years of aerospace/defense experience, including 5 years in mission systems integration.
• Demonstrated experience with aircraft payloads, avionics and weapons integration.
• Experience with line‑of‑sight and beyond line‑of‑sight communications systems.
• Working knowledge of Government MOSA standards such as OMS and GRA.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver complex systems.
• Strong understanding of systems engineering processes and product development lifecycle.
• Familiarity with DO‑178C/DO‑254 certification requirements.
• Active Secret clearance with ability to obtain Top‑Secret.

Required skills

• MIL‑HDBK‑516C compliance.
• DO‑178C and DO‑254 certification knowledge.
• Government MOSA standards (OMS, GRA).
• Hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) testing.
• Model‑based systems engineering (MBSE) and SysML.
• Line‑of‑sight and beyond line‑of‑sight communications.