Senior Mission Systems Engineer — Unmanned Aircraft

F7d8749a

Seattle (WA)

On-site

USD 150,000 - 190,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Shield AI in Seattle is seeking a Staff Engineer for Mission Systems to lead end-to-end engineering of payloads, avionics, and weapons on next‑gen unmanned aircraft. You will shape architectures, develop requirements, and oversee system integration from concept through flight test and fielding.

The role requires leading multidisciplinary teams, strong systems engineering discipline, and familiarity with DO-178C/DO-254 certification.

Qualifications

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.
Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of relevant Aerospace/defense experience, with at least 5 years in mission systems integration.
Demonstrated experience with aircraft payloads, avionics, and/or weapons integration.
Demonstrated experience with line-of-sight and beyond line-of-sight aircraft communications systems and components.
Working knowledge of Government modular open system approach (MOSA) standards to include open mission systems (OMS), Government Reference Architectures (GRA) or modular avionics standards.
Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and deliver complex systems to fielded capability.
Strong knowledge of systems engineering processes and product development lifecycle.
Familiarity with DO-178C/DO-254 certification requirements for software and hardware.
Excellent communication skills and ability to brief technical findings to executives and customers.
Active Secret clearance and have the ability to obtain a Top-Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

Lead system architecture and requirements development and integration for payloads, avionics, and weapons integration.
Serve as a technical subject matter expert for mission systems engineering across the aircraft program.
Drive trade studies and system-of-systems analysis to balance performance, cost, and schedule.
Oversee integration and test campaigns, from bench-level hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) to flight test.
Ensure compliance with MIL-HDBK-516C, DO-178C, DO-254, and related standards.
Collaborate with program management to de-risk architectures and ensure technical maturity gates are met.
Interface with customers, partners, and suppliers to align system requirements and certifications.