Shield AI
Engineering Manager, Air Vehicle Mechanical Systems (R5391)
San Diego, California · Manager · Full-time · Posted Aug 18, 2026
- Experience
- 10+ years in aerospace mechanisms and actuated systems; 2+ years leading teams or in a team leadership role.
- Education
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).
About the job
Leads and develops a mechanical engineering team designing, integrating, testing, and sustaining aircraft mechanisms and actuation systems for Shield AI’s X-BAT UAV.
What you'll do
- Lead, mentor, and manage mechanical engineers and team workload across builds and test campaigns.
- Provide technical guidance on mechanism architecture, design, analysis, integration, release, and sustaining; set engineering quality standards.
- Coordinate across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and test teams, communicating risks, staffing needs, and schedule impacts.
What they ask for
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
- 10+ years of experience with aerospace mechanisms and actuated system design, build, integration, test, and flight.
- 2+ years leading teams or serving in a team leadership role.
- Demonstrated team leadership, strong engineering fundamentals, and experience shipping hardware through prototype build, test, iteration, and release, including supplier and manufacturing engagement.
Nice to have
- Experience with environmental and operational robustness, ground and flight test campaigns, or mechanism failure investigations.
- Familiarity with reliability and safety methods, or experience building supplier relationships for machined parts, actuation systems, and mechanism assemblies.
Tools
GD&T, DFMEA/FTA
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative