HIL and Infrastructure Lab Technician (R6008)

Shield; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 40,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Lab Operations Specialist to manage Hivemind’s hardware-in-the-loop labs and engineering laboratories. You will own daily readiness, asset control, and cross-team coordination to support software development and system integration testing.

This hands-on role requires strong practical judgment, excellent organization, and the ability to work with defense/aerospace hardware, test equipment, and lab infrastructure. SECURITY clearance possible must-have.

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on experience supporting engineering laboratories or similar facilities.
• Experience assembling, installing, and troubleshooting electro-mechanical equipment and test infrastructure.
• Experience maintaining serialized assets, inventory, calibration, and records.
• Strong planning to own lab operations and coordinate schedules across teams.
• Ability to read wiring diagrams, schematics, and installation drawings.
• Comfort with Windows and Linux environments and documenting work.

Responsibilities

• Own daily operations and readiness for HIL and infrastructure labs.
• Build, install, configure, inspect, and maintain lab hardware and racks.
• Maintain asset control: tagging, serial tracking, location, and calibration.
• Schedule lab activities, maintenance windows, and cross-program priorities.
• Perform wiring and fabrication tasks and ensure safe procedures.
• Read and apply wiring diagrams, schematics, and BOMs.
• Provision software environments, image computers, and manage configurations.
• Diagnose lab issues across power, wiring, compute, and network systems.
• Coordinate procurement, inspection, shipping, and tool calibration.
• Establish lab safety, cybersecurity, and quality standards.
• Maintain lab SOPs, records, baselines, and dashboards.
• Support customer integration events by preparing lab environments.

Skills

Lab operations

Asset management

Electronic hardware

Planning & scheduling

Wiring diagrams

Documentation & records

Clear communication

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor’s/Associate degree in engineering tech

Military or vocational training

Technical certifications

Tools

Windows

Linux

Digital multimeters

Soldering tools

Cable & lab tooling

Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai . Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn , X , Instagram , and YouTube .

Candidates for this role will own the day-to-day management, readiness, organization, and growth of Hivemind's Hardware-in-the-Loop and engineering laboratories. This is a highly hands-on position with direct accountability for lab operations while also building, maintaining, configuring, and troubleshooting the systems that enable software development and integration testing. We are looking for someone with relevant defense, aerospace, aviation, robotics, or comparable technical experience who brings strong asset discipline, practical technical judgment, excellent organization, and a service-oriented approach to supporting engineering teams across multiple programs.

What You'll Do

• Own daily operations and technical readiness for HIL and infrastructure laboratories, ensuring systems, workspaces, tools, documentation, and shared resources are available and ready for engineering use
• Build, install, configure, inspect, and maintain HIL racks, test benches, compute systems, network equipment, storage, power distribution, simulation hardware, flight hardware, and supporting lab infrastructure
• Own and maintain accurate asset control for lab and program equipment, including receiving, tagging, serial-number tracking, location, custody, configuration, calibration, maintenance, spares, and disposition records
• Manage lab schedules, equipment reservations, maintenance windows, integration priorities, and competing cross-program demands in coordination with software, hardware, systems, test, and program teams
• Perform wiring and fabrication tasks such as cable assembly, connector installation, crimping, soldering, continuity checks, cable routing, rack assembly, panel modification, bracket installation, and minor mechanical rework using approved procedures
• Read, apply, and update wiring diagrams, electrical schematics, rack elevations, mechanical and installation drawings, cable and port maps, bills of material, work instructions, and interface-control documentation
• Support software development by provisioning and restoring development and test environments, imaging computers, installing approved software, managing configurations, collecting logs, and assisting with automated lab workflows
• Diagnose and resolve lab issues across power, wiring, compute, networking, software, instrumentation, and mechanical interfaces using appropriate test equipment, logs, drawings, and structured troubleshooting methods
• Manage procurement coordination, incoming inspection, shipping and receiving, vendor repair activity, consumables, tool control, calibration, equipment staging, and capacity planning for lab growth and program execution
• Establish, maintain, and enforce lab standards for safety, access, cybersecurity, export control, electrostatic-discharge protection, foreign-object-debris prevention, cleanliness, labeling, and configuration management
• Own and maintain lab operating procedures, build records, maintenance logs, configuration baselines, status dashboards, issue trackers, and work instructions that provide traceability and support knowledge sharing
• Support customer integration events, demonstrations, operational exercises, and evaluations by preparing representative lab environments, reproducing field issues, and incorporating approved updates into HIL configurations and test infrastructure

Required Qualifications

• Typically requires 5+ years of hands-on experience supporting engineering laboratories, integration and test facilities, avionics, mission systems, electronics, IT infrastructure, industrial equipment, or comparable technical operations. A four-year engineering degree is not required. Relevant demonstrated experience, military service, vocational training, or technical certifications are acceptable pathways to qualification.
• Hands-on experience operating or supporting engineering laboratories, integration facilities, test environments, maintenance operations, or mission systems in the defense, aerospace, aviation, robotics, manufacturing, or another mission-critical industry
• Demonstrated experience assembling, installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting electro-mechanical equipment, test infrastructure, computing systems, electronics, or avionics hardware
• Experience maintaining accountable assets, serialized hardware, inventory, tools, calibration, spares, shipping and receiving, maintenance history, or configuration records
• Strong planning and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to own shared lab operations and coordinate schedules, equipment availability, maintenance activities, priorities, and dependencies across multiple teams or programs
• Ability to read and work from wiring diagrams, electrical schematics, mechanical and installation drawings, rack layouts, bills of material, work instructions, and technical manuals
• Competence with wiring, cable and connector work, fabrication, hand tools, digital multimeters, continuity testing, rack integration, and safe electro-mechanical troubleshooting
• Comfort working with Windows-and Linux-based computers, installing and configuring software, collecting logs, documenting technical work, and communicating clearly with software and hardware engineers
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• A degree in engineering technology; an associate degree in electronics technology, information technology, avionics, or a related technical discipline; equivalent military or vocational training; or relevant demonstrated experience
• Experience supporting HIL, SIL, VIL, avionics, flight-system, robotics, or systems-integration laboratories
• Familiarity with Python, Bash, PowerShell, or another scripting language for asset records, health checks, configuration, data collection, reporting, or routine lab workflows
• Experience supporting software-development or continuous-integration teams, including environment provisioning, software deployment, source control, build systems, automated testing, or test orchestration
• Experience with aircraft systems, autonomy software, embedded computing, real-time simulation, sensors, communications equipment, or uncrewed vehicle integration
• Familiarity with Ethernet networking, managed switches, IP addressing, serial communications, CAN, time synchronization, remote access, and basic network troubleshooting
• Experience with CAD viewers or tools used to review or update electrical drawings, mechanical drawings, rack layouts, cable drawings, or lab floor plans

$29.80 - $44.70 an hour

Full-time regular employee offer package

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI equal opportunity

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.