Staff Engineer, Industrial

Shieldai; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits

Equity

Bonus

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Staff Advanced Industrial Engineer to design, optimize, and scale world-class manufacturing systems for aerospace products. You will lead factory layouts, material flow, and production readiness, partnering across Engineering, Operations, and Supply Chain to deliver scalable facilities.

The role emphasizes greenfield planning, equipment placement, and capacity modeling, ensuring safe, efficient, and flexible production. Prior aerospace/defense experience is highly valued.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering or related field.
• 8+ years in industrial engineering, factory design, manufacturing systems, or greenfield facility development.
• Experience designing factory layouts and scalable manufacturing systems for complex products.
• Experience supporting greenfield manufacturing projects, facility expansions, or major production line launches.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes including machining, composites, electrical assemblies, and final integration.
• Experience supporting production ramp-up, NPI, and manufacturing process development.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Aerospace, defense, automotive, or advanced manufacturing industry experience.
• Knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, or other regulated environments.
• Experience with automated material handling systems, robotics, AGVs/AMRs, automated storage systems, or Industry 4.0 technologies.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or equivalent certification.
• Experience with MES, ERP, digital factory technologies, and production simulation software.

Responsibilities

• Lead factory layout development and production system optimization.
• Plan and execute greenfield facilities and master planning.
• Develop concepts from planning to production launch with scalability in mind.
• Design material flow, storage, and warehousing systems.
• Create 2D layouts and 3D models with equipment and safety zones.
• Perform capacity planning, line balancing, takt time analysis.
• Conduct time studies, ergonomics, spaghetti diagrams, and workflow analyses.
• Develop manufacturing standards and visual controls.
• Lead cross-functional design reviews.
• Use discrete-event simulation to model throughput and constraints.
• Support facility construction and production readiness during launches.
• Drive Lean initiatives including 5S and value stream mapping.
• Develop factory design standards and playbooks.

Skills

Lean Manufacturing

Six Sigma

Value Stream Mapping

5S

Kanban

Visual Management

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical skills

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering

Tools

AutoCAD

SolidWorks

Revit

Visio

Plant Simulation

FlexSim

AnyLogic

MES

ERP systems

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.

Job Description:

We areseekinga highly motivated StaffAdvanceIndustrial Engineer to design,optimize, and scale world-class manufacturing systems for advanced aerospace products. In this role, you will lead factory and production system design, including facility layouts, material flow, line balancing, capacity planning, and production readiness. You will also play a critical role in planning and executing greenfield manufacturing facilities, developing factory concepts from the ground up, including production layouts, infrastructure requirements, equipment planning, material flow strategies, and manufacturing standards.

Partnering with Manufacturing Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Facilities, Quality, EHS, and Program Management, you will develop efficient, scalable, and data-driven manufacturing solutions that enable rapid production growth. This is a high-impact role responsible for transforming manufacturing concepts into production-ready factories while driving safety, quality, throughput, and operational excellence.

• Lead factory layout development, production line design, and manufacturing system optimization for new and existing production programs.
• Support the planning and execution of greenfield manufacturing facilities, including factory master planning, space allocation, utility requirements, equipment placement, production flow, and long-term capacity planning.
• Develop manufacturing concepts frominitialfactory planning through production launch, ensuring scalability, flexibility, and operational efficiency.
• Design andoptimizematerial flow, point-of-use storage, supermarkets, kitting strategies, replenishment systems, tugger routes, and warehouselogistics.
• Develop detailed 2D factory layouts and 3D manufacturing models, including equipment placement, utilities, workstations, safety zones, production support infrastructure, and future expansion plans.
• Perform capacity planning, line balancing, takt time analysis, labor planning, buffer sizing, and bottleneck analysis to achieve production targets.
• Conduct time studies, ergonomic assessments, spaghetti diagrams, and workflow analyses to improve productivity andeliminatewaste.
• Develop manufacturing standards for material presentation, packaging, FIFO management, visual controls, workstation design, and factory operating standards.
• Lead cross-functional factory design reviews with Manufacturing Engineering, Production, Facilities, Supply Chain, Quality, EHS, and Program Management.
• Utilize discrete-event simulation tools to model production throughput,identifyconstraints,validatefactory designs, andoptimizemanufacturing strategies before implementation.
• Support facility construction, equipment installation, tape-outs, utility coordination, commissioning, and production readiness activities during factory launches.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing initiatives including 5S, visual management, standardized work, continuous improvement, and value stream optimization.
• Develop andmaintainfactory design standards, launch playbooks, production system guidelines, and manufacturing best practices to support future factory expansions and replication.

Tools & Skills

• AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Revit, Visio, or equivalent CAD/layout software
• Siemens Plant Simulation,FlexSim,AnyLogic, or equivalent discrete-event simulation software
• Time studies, MTM/MOST, work measurement, and labor analysis
• Capacity modeling, line balancing, takt planning, and production system design
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), 5S, Kanban, and Visual Management
• Material flow analysis,warehouseandlogisticsdesign
• Factory master planning and facility layout development
• Strong analytical, project management, and cross-functional leadership skills

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in industrial engineering, factory design, manufacturing systems, production planning, advanced manufacturing engineering, or greenfield facility development.
• Experience designing factory layouts, production lines, and scalable manufacturing systems for complex products.
• Experience supporting greenfield manufacturing projects, facility expansions, or major production line launches.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes including machining, composites, electrical assemblies, precision mechanical assemblies, and final integration.
• Experience supporting production ramp-up, new product introduction (NPI), and manufacturing process development.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional projects in a fast-paced, high-growth manufacturing environment.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Aerospace, defense, automotive, or advanced manufacturing industry experience.
• Experience leading greenfield factory development, factory relocation, or major manufacturing expansion projects.
• Knowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, or other regulated manufacturing environments.
• Experience with automated material handling systems, robotics, AGVs/AMRs, automated storage systems, or Industry 4.0 technologies.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, or equivalent continuous improvement certification.
• Experience with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), ERP systems, digital factory technologies, and production simulation software.

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 toequal 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.