Aerospace Actuated Systems Manager

Shield AI; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 153,000 - 229,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Manager of Actuated Systems to lead an aircraft mechanical systems team for the jet-engine VTOL platform, X-BAT. You will manage engineers designing doors, uplocks, landing gear, flight-control actuation, and propulsion actuation mechanisms, serving as a key technical resource and leader.

The role requires strong autonomy, cross-functional collaboration, and a track record of delivering complex mechanical systems from design through flight.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).
• 10+ years experience with aerospace mechanisms and actuated system design, build, integration, test and flight.
• 2+ years leading teams or performing in a team leadership role.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams with high autonomy - setting direction, ensuring quality, and scaling output through people.
• Strong engineering fundamentals: kinematics, statics/dynamics, fatigue/wear, tolerancing/GD&T, materials and finishes, lubrication/bearings, failure modes.
• Experience shipping hardware through prototype build, test, iteration, and release, including supplier and manufacturing engagement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of mechanical engineers, from new grad to Principal, focused on aircraft mechanisms and actuation systems (architecture, detailed design, analysis support, release, and sustaining).
• Support your team as a technical resource for end-to-end design of mechanisms including (as applicable): Doors & latching, Uplocks / Downlocks, Landing gear mechanisms, Actuation integration for flight controls, Nozzle / propulsion actuation mechanisms, Actuation, Hydraulics.
• Set the quality bar for mechanisms engineering: what 'good' looks like in sizing, tolerances, margins, drawings/MBD, materials/process selection, and verification evidence.
• Enable extreme ownership by ensuring engineers have clear goals, interfaces, resources, and decision rights.
• Drive effective cross-functional collaboration (systems, structures/loads, aero, propulsion, GNC, avionics, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, test, flight test) by fostering excelling communication across interfaces.
• Coach and develop engineers through technical mentorship, career development, feedback, hiring, onboarding, and performance management.
• Manage team workload across multiple builds and test campaigns; communicate risk, staffing needs, and schedule impacts with transparency.

Skills

Team leadership

Mechanical engineering

Aerospace mechanisms

Actuation systems

GD&T

Supplier relations

Systems engineering

Education

B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Manager of Actuated Systems to lead an aircraft mechanical systems team for the jet-engine VTOL platform, X-BAT. You will manage engineers designing doors, uplocks, landing gear, flight-control actuation, and propulsion actuation mechanisms, serving as a key technical resource and leader.

The role requires strong autonomy, cross-functional collaboration, and a track record of delivering complex mechanical systems from design through flight.