Staff Electrical Engineer

Shield AI; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an exceptional Electrical Engineer to help build the next generation of autonomous aircraft. You will own the full hardware design, collaborating with Mechanical, CAD, Embedded, and Software teams across the product lifecycle.

We value a strong track record in analog/digital circuit design, high-speed and power systems, and a passion for reliability in aerospace environments. This role offers substantial ownership, mentorship, and opportunities to impact critical hardware

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• 5+ years of experience as an Electrical Engineer.
• Familiarity with Altium or equivalent CAD tools.
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR security clearance is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Own full product and circuit design for flight critical subsystems including analog, digital, power, compute, sensors, FPGA.
• Design for high reliability in challenging environments (temperature, altitude, radiation, vibration).
• Full-cycle hardware development from concept to validation and iteration.
• PCB ownership: layout and design with ECAD engineers, optimizing power, EMI, thermal, manufacturability.
• Design for Safety, Manufacturability and Reliability in aerospace contexts.
• Board bring-up, verification, HALT testing to meet aerospace standards.
• Cross-functional collaboration with Mechanical, CAD, Embedded, Software and Production teams.
• Lead design reviews and drive project milestones to on-time delivery.
• Mentor and lead engineers on the project.

Skills

Circuit design

Schematic capture

Component selection

Circuit testing

Circuit debugging

System integration

Altium

Security clearance (S//SAR)

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering

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-BAT aircraft, 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 .

Job Description:

Shield AI is seeking an exceptional Electrical Engineer to join the team in building our next-generation autonomous aircraft. Joining now places you at the earliest stages of development, tackling open-ended design challenges that will shape the future of autonomous flight.

You will collaborate closely with other Electrical Engineers, Mechanical, Thermal, CAD, Hardware Test, Reliability, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and other cross‑functional teams. This is an opportunity to shape our team processes and own critical aspects of our hardware development.

What you'll do:

• Own full product and circuit design for flight critical subsystems. This includes analog, digital, high-speed, power, compute, sensors, FPGA, and other functional blocks as needed
• Design for high reliability in challenging environments. Including temperature, altitude, radiation, and vibration
• Full‑cycle hardware development: Own the entire flow — concept, modeling, worst case analysis, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, design reiteration for improving design maturity, testing and validation
• PCB ownership: Drive PCB layout and design with ECAD engineers, optimizing for power density, EMI, thermal, and manufacturability
• Design for Safety, Manufacturability and Reliability: Design robust systems keeping in mind best practices for safety, manufacturing and reliability
• Board Bring Up and Testing: Execute board bring up, verification, validation and HALT testing to meet rigorous aerospace reliability standards
• Cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with Mechanical, CAD, Embedded, Software, Production and various aircraft teams throughout the product lifecycle
• Design review leadership: Lead and contribute to cross-functional reviews ensuring robust, high‑integrity engineering decisions
• Program execution: Manage project timelines, deliverables, and technical milestones to drive on‑time, high‑quality outcomes
• Mentor and lead other engineers supporting your project

Required qualifications:

• You have a B.S. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent
• You have 5+ years of experience as an Electrical Engineer
• You are experienced with: circuit design, schematic capture, component selection, circuit testing, circuit debugging, and system integration
• You have a demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others
• Familiarity with Altium or equivalent
• Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

$150,000 - $220,000 a year

#LD

Full-time regular employee offer package:

• Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

• Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part‑time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.