Senior Staff Engineer, Mission Architect (R5876)

Shield; Washington; On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Mission Engineer to own mission representation for multiple programs, applying systems engineering, modeling, simulation, and operational analysis to evaluate how autonomous systems enable mission effects.

You will analyze mission architectures, capability gaps, and performance drivers across platforms; translate mission needs into traceable autonomy requirements guiding design trade-offs and technology priorities.

Qualifications

• Experience applying systems engineering to complex platforms.
• Ability to translate mission needs into traceable autonomy requirements.
• Familiarity with modeling, simulation, and V&V techniques.

Responsibilities

• Own the mission representation across programs and domains.
• Analyze mission architectures, system interactions, and capability gaps.
• Translate mission needs into autonomy requirements informing design trade-offs and priorities.
• Collaborate with engineering, product development, and defense stakeholders to shape concepts and architectures.

Skills

Systems engineering

Modeling & simulation

Operational analysis

Requirements traceability

Verification & validation

Job description

Job Description:

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BATaircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

We are seeking a Mission Engineer to own the mission representation of various programs, applying systems engineering, modeling, simulation, and operational analysis techniques to evaluate how Shield AI’s autonomous systems enable desired mission effects. This role is pivotal in analyzing mission architectures, system interactions, capability gaps, and performance drivers across multiple platforms and domains. You will work closely with engineering, product development, operational analysis, and defense stakeholders to translate mission needs into traceable autonomy requirements that inform design trade-offs, system requirements, technology priorities, and operational concepts.

This position requires a strong understanding of military operations, systems engineering, modeling & simulation (M&S), mission analysis, operational analysis techniques, requirements traceability, and model verification and validation techniques. Your work will directly shape Shield AI’s strategy and product development by connecting mission objectives and operational needs to system capabilities, architectures, and engineering decisions.