Shield AI
Staff Engineer, Flight Test (R6064)
Washington, D.C. · Staff · Full-time · Posted Oct 8, 2026
- Experience
- Typically 8+ years with a Bachelor’s degree, or 6+ years with a Master’s.
- Visa sponsorship
- Must be a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance.
About the job
Integrates, verifies, and flight-tests Hivemind AI Pilot capabilities on Group 5 UAS and Autonomous Collaborative Platforms, coordinating test readiness, execution, safety, and technical risk.
What you'll do
- Develop and execute integration and flight-test plans across simulation, SIL, HIL, ground, and flight environments.
- Coordinate test readiness and lead aircraft integration, flight execution, troubleshooting, and post-flight analysis.
- Evaluate test results, manage technical and safety risks, and coordinate across teams, OEMs, government ranges, and customers.
What they ask for
- Flight-test planning, execution, and evaluation experience with aircraft systems in military or defense aviation.
- Knowledge of aviation safety, risk management, aircraft performance, flight operations, and environmental effects.
- System-level verification and validation experience across multiple test environments; cross-functional engineering experience.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance; U.S. citizenship required.
Nice to have
- Military aviation or full-scale aircraft flight-test leadership experience; ACP or autonomous aircraft experience.
- Python, autonomy or AI/ML-enabled aviation systems, DoD test processes, or tools such as Git, Jira/Azure DevOps, and CI/CD pipelines.
Tools
Hivemind, SIL, HIL, Python, Git, Jira/Azure DevOps, CI/CD
AI focus
Integrates and tests Hivemind AI Pilot capabilities and autonomy systems for aircraft.
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