Principal Fuel Systems Engineer, Autonomous Aircraft

Shield; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Principal Fuel Systems Engineer to lead architecture, development, and validation of fuel systems for next‑gen autonomous aircraft. You will own the full lifecycle from concept through flight testing while mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence across the air vehicle portfolio.

You will tackle high‑impact challenges such as enabling long endurance, optimizing center of gravity, and delivering robust, certifiable fuel systems for extreme conditions, with

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering.
• 12–15+ years in aircraft fuel systems or propulsion integration.
• Strong knowledge of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and CFD.
• Proficiency with ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, MATLAB/Simulink and CAD tools.
• US Citizenship; ability to travel up to 25% for remote candidates.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end fuel systems for next-gen autonomous aircraft.
• Lead cross-functional integration between propulsion, structures, avionics, and thermal teams.
• Conduct system-level modeling to predict flow behavior, vapor suppression, slosh dynamics, and thermal effects.
• Define performance requirements and verification strategies for high-reliability components.
• Lead design reviews, trade studies, and risk assessments for critical systems.
• Oversee supplier selection, qualification, and testing of pumps, valves, tanks, sensors.
• Support ground and flight tests; perform root-cause analyses for system anomalies.
• Mentor engineers and develop testing processes and best practices.
• Contribute to long-term technology roadmaps including hybrid-electric architectures.

Skills

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Cross-functional collaboration

System engineering thinking

Problem solving

Education

B.S./M.S. in Aerospace/Mechanical engineering

Tools

ANSYS Fluent

OpenFOAM

MATLAB/Simulink

NX

CATIA

SolidWorks

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Principal Fuel Systems Engineer to lead architecture, development, and validation of fuel systems for next‑gen autonomous aircraft. You will own the full lifecycle from concept through flight testing while mentoring engineers and driving technical excellence across the air vehicle portfolio.

You will tackle high‑impact challenges such as enabling long endurance, optimizing center of gravity, and delivering robust, certifiable fuel systems for extreme conditions, with