Senior Flight Actuation Engineer for Fighter UAVs

f7d8749a-72d6-407c-bf98-292ea630c73a; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 310,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Senior Staff Engineer to own flight control actuation system design for a Group 5 UAV fighter. You will define requirements, trade actuator designs, and drive qualified hardware from concept to production support.

The role blends rigorous engineering with rapid decision‑making in an accelerated aircraft development setting, delivering meaningful capability to operators quickly.

Qualifications

• 8–15 years of flight control actuation system design on fixed-wing aircraft.
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related discipline.
• Proven track record sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components and driving suppliers to schedule.
• Ability to self-direct and deliver hardware under tight timelines.
• Experience with actuator dynamic performance analysis (bandwidth, response, stability margins, failure modes, redundancy).
• Experience coordinating with flight controls and VMS engineers on actuator-control-law integration.
• Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-516 and MIL-STD-810; support SRR, PDR, CDR on DoD/fighter programs.

Responsibilities

• Own FCAS requirements, verification traceability, and design validation.
• Design and analyze control surface actuation systems including sizing and bandwidth.
• Integrate control laws with actuator interface across Flight Controls and Vehicle Management Systems.
• Drive power/thermal integration with EPS and hydraulic interfaces; address heat and thermal load.
• Coordinate structural implications of actuator loads with structures.
• Define and execute qualification test plans per MIL-HDBK-516 and MIL-STD-810; mature hardware.
• Lead design maturity and qualification reviews at SRR, PDR, CDR.

Skills

Flight control actuation design

Autonomy

Actuator dynamics analysis

Actuator-control integration

Self-direction

DoD standards familiarity

Hardware procurement

Education

B.S./M.S. in Mechanical or Aerospace Eng

Job description

Shield AI seeks a Senior Staff Engineer to own flight control actuation system design for a Group 5 UAV fighter. You will define requirements, trade actuator designs, and drive qualified hardware from concept to production support.

The role blends rigorous engineering with rapid decision‑making in an accelerated aircraft development setting, delivering meaningful capability to operators quickly.