Shield AI
Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer (R5009)
$150K–$230K
Wichita Metro Area · On-site · Full-time · Posted May 16, 2026
- Experience
- 10–15+ years in flight test instrumentation, data acquisition systems, or related hardware integration roles.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field.
About the job
Designs, integrates, validates, and maintains aircraft flight-test instrumentation and data acquisition systems to support safe, reliable testing of the X-BAT aircraft.
What you'll do
- Design, install, calibrate, and maintain sensors, data acquisition hardware, telemetry links, harnesses, and ground-station interfaces.
- Configure and validate data acquisition; check flight data, troubleshoot instrumentation issues, and implement corrective actions.
- Coordinate instrumentation requirements, test plans, safety considerations, and field deployments with test and engineering teams.
What they ask for
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
- Hands-on experience installing and configuring sensors, DAQs, wiring harnesses, and telemetry systems.
- Strong understanding of instrumentation standards, signal conditioning, sampling theory, and data synchronization.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings and schematics, troubleshoot issues, and support extended travel and remote deployments.
Nice to have
- Experience with developmental aircraft or experimental flight-test programs; familiarity with IRIG, PCM, avionics data buses, Curtis Wright DAS Studio, or IADS.
- Experience in strain-gauge, thermal, propulsion, or structural testing; environmental sealing, harness fabrication, or EMI/EMC. A related master’s degree or higher is also preferred.
Pay
USD 150,000–230,000 per year (base salary)
Tools
NI, Dewesoft, HBM, ICS, IRIG, PCM, ARINC 429, MIL-STD-1553
AI focus
Supports instrumentation and data capture for testing the X-BAT, an autonomous VTOL jet aircraft; no AI development work is stated.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative