Senior Flight Test Director, UAS Autonomy

Shield AI; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 172,000 - 258,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Senior Staff Flight Test Engineer / Test Director to lead end-to-end integration, verification, and flight test of Hivemind Mission Autonomy on UAS. You will own test readiness, direct campaigns, and enforce safety while driving data‑driven decisions from simulation to flight.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering, safety, and program management, define test strategy and acceptance criteria, and report progress to leadership and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• B.S. degree in a STEM discipline (Aerospace, Software, Computer Engineering, or related).
• 7+ years in system integration and test including SIL/HIL, simulation, and flight test environments.
• Experience leading test execution, including authority over test conduct, readiness, and risk decisions.

Responsibilities

• Act as Test Director for system-level integration and flight test campaigns of Hivemind Mission Autonomy on UAS.
• Own test readiness decisions, including entry/exit criteria for lab, simulation, ground, and flight test phases.
• Plan, direct, and execute fly–fix–fly test campaigns with disciplined configuration control and safety.
• Define and enforce test strategy, including system-level verification and validation, test phasing, and prioritization of objectives.
• Direct cross-functional test execution, coordinating across engineering disciplines and test operators.
• Determine test infrastructure requirements, including SIL, HIL, simulation environments, and automated test pipelines
• Approve and oversee test procedures, test cards, and execution plans, serving as final authority during test conduct
• Define performance metrics and success criteria, ensuring data is actionable and traceable to requirements.

Skills

System integration

Test leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Risk assessment

Documentation

Education

B.S. in STEM

Tools

SIL

HIL

Simulation

Job description

Shield AI seeks a Senior Staff Flight Test Engineer / Test Director to lead end-to-end integration, verification, and flight test of Hivemind Mission Autonomy on UAS. You will own test readiness, direct campaigns, and enforce safety while driving data‑driven decisions from simulation to flight.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams across engineering, safety, and program management, define test strategy and acceptance criteria, and report progress to leadership and stakeholders.