Shield AI
Deputy Chief Engineer, X-BAT
$250K–$350K
Seattle, Washington · On-site · Full-time · Posted Sep 25, 2026
- Experience
- 12+ years.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
About the job
Serves as the technical deputy for the X-BAT air vehicle, leading multidisciplinary engineering integration and technical execution from design through testing and production.
What you'll do
- Maintain the aircraft’s technical baseline and lead engineering integration, design reviews, risk management, and aircraft-level decisions.
- Coordinate verification, ground and flight testing, root-cause investigations, and corrective actions with engineering, manufacturing, and test teams.
- Align technical work with program commitments and communicate aircraft status, risks, and recommendations to stakeholders.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in a related technical discipline.
- 12+ years of progressive experience developing complex aircraft, military aerospace systems, autonomous aircraft, or similarly integrated aerospace products.
- Demonstrated technical leadership on an aircraft-development program and experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Nice to have
- Master’s degree in a related discipline.
- Experience with clean-sheet military aircraft, autonomy integration, aircraft flight testing, or transition to production.
Pay
USD 250,000–350,000 per year base salary
AI focus
The role integrates autonomy into the X-BAT air vehicle; no specific AI development work is stated.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative