Staff Engineer – Structural Designer for Autonomous Aircraft

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a passionate Mechanical Engineer to help develop state‑of‑the‑art AI‑enabled aircraft. You will contribute to the mechanical design and development of autonomous UAV products, ensuring structural integrity, manufacturability, and mission readiness.

Key responsibilities

• Design complex structures for the autonomous aircraft launch and recovery system, from concept through CAD, tolerance analysis, material selection, and drawing release.
• Perform structural and kinematic calculations, preliminary FEA (modal, non‑linear, linear, buckling, fatigue) and GD&T analysis.
• Prototype, test, and iterate mechanism designs for functionality and reliability, supporting pre‑production builds and ground/flight testing.
• Collaborate with electrical, avionics, flight‑controls, manufacturing, and test teams, and participate in design reviews and architecture discussions.

Required profile

• B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 7+ years of experience in mechanical or mechanism design for ground vehicles.
• Strong CAD skills, preferably with NX.
• Ability to work independently in fast‑paced, cross‑functional teams.

Required skills

• NX CAD modeling.
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) including modal, non‑linear, linear, buckling, and fatigue.
• GD&T and tolerance stack‑up analysis.
• Kinematic analysis and optimization.
• FMEA, DOE, and root‑cause analysis.