Shield AI
Staff Engineer, Flight Test (R6064)
$140K–$210K
Washington, D.C. · On-site · Staff · Full-time · Posted Sep 24, 2026
- Experience
- Typically 8+ years with a Bachelor’s degree, or 6+ years with a Master’s.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree (as an alternative experience pathway); no equivalent-experience option stated.
- Visa sponsorship
- U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance.
About the job
Plans and leads integration, verification, and flight testing of Hivemind AI Pilot capabilities on Group 5 UAS and Autonomous Collaborative Platforms.
What you'll do
- Develop and execute integration and flight test plans across simulation, SIL, HIL, ground, and flight environments.
- Coordinate test readiness, technical and safety risks, and cross-functional test execution with internal teams, OEMs, and government stakeholders.
- Lead aircraft integration and flight test activities; analyze results and recommend corrective actions.
What they ask for
- Flight-test experience with aircraft systems in military or defense aviation environments.
- Strong understanding of aviation safety-of-flight, risk management, aircraft performance, and flight operations.
- 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 lead flight-test experience; familiarity with ACP, autonomous systems, or DoD test processes.
- Python, Git, Jira/Azure DevOps, or CI/CD familiarity; active SECRET clearance.
Pay
USD 140,000–210,000 (per-year-salary); base salary
Tools
Hivemind AI Pilot, SIL, HIL, Python, Git, Jira/Azure DevOps, CI/CD
AI focus
Integrates and flight-tests Hivemind AI Pilot autonomy capabilities on autonomous aircraft platforms.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative