Lead Landing Gear Engineer for UAV Autonomy

Shield AI; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 130,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Principal Landing Gear Engineer to lead the mechanical design of autonomous UAV landing gear. You will architect, detail, and validate gear assemblies, doors, and related mechanisms while coordinating with cross-functional teams to meet performance targets.

Candidates should have deep experience in mechanical design for flight hardware, with strengths in kinematic analysis, FEA, GD&T, and materials selection.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering required.
• 7+ years in mechanical or mechanism design.
• Strong CAD skills, NX preferred.
• Experience with UAVs, aircraft, rotorcraft, or other landable air systems.

Responsibilities

• Design electro-mechanical or hydro-mechanical landing gear for autonomous aircraft.
• Own the full design process: concept, CAD design, analysis, tolerance stackups, material selection, drawing release.
• Perform structural and kinematic calculations and preliminary FEA.
• Prototype, test, and iterate mechanism designs for functionality and reliability.
• Collaborate with electrical, avionics, hydraulics, and structures teams.
• Support pre-production builds, prototype integration, and ground/flight testing.

Skills

CAD modeling

Kinematic analysis

FEA

UAV/aircraft experience

GD&T

Materials selection

Mechanical design

Education

B.S. Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Tools

NX

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Principal Landing Gear Engineer to lead the mechanical design of autonomous UAV landing gear. You will architect, detail, and validate gear assemblies, doors, and related mechanisms while coordinating with cross-functional teams to meet performance targets.

Candidates should have deep experience in mechanical design for flight hardware, with strengths in kinematic analysis, FEA, GD&T, and materials selection.