Lead UAV Structural Stress Engineer

Lever, Inc.; Seattle, Northern (WA, KY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a highly skilled structural engineer to lead analysis for next-generation autonomous aircraft. You will own FEM modeling, load cases, and margin assessments, delivering static, modal, fatigue and damage-tolerance studies. You’ll mentor analysts and partner with design, loads, aero, propulsion, and systems teams to optimize weight and performance.

Required: a B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering and 10+ years in aircraft structures with strong FEA experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• 10+ years of structural analysis experience in aerospace.
• Experience with aircraft structures and FAA/flight-test validation.
• Ability to lead complex technical workstreams and influence design decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead structural analysis for UAV airframes and major substructures.
• Define FEM approaches, load cases, margins, and validation.
• Perform static, modal, fatigue, vibration, and damage-tolerance analysis.
• Drive optimization balancing performance, weight, cost, and manufacturability.
• Support structural test strategy and correlate tests to analysis.
• Review deliverables and mentor junior analysts.

Skills

FEA expertise

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication

Education

B.S. Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

ANSYS

NASTRAN

HyperWorks

Job description

Shield AI seeks a highly skilled structural engineer to lead analysis for next-generation autonomous aircraft. You will own FEM modeling, load cases, and margin assessments, delivering static, modal, fatigue and damage-tolerance studies. You’ll mentor analysts and partner with design, loads, aero, propulsion, and systems teams to optimize weight and performance.

Required: a B.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering and 10+ years in aircraft structures with strong FEA experience.