Shield AI
Staff Mission Systems Engineer - Ranger (R6405)
$185K–$280K
Seattle, Washington · On-site · Staff · Full-time · Posted Oct 23, 2026
- Experience
- Typically at least 7 years of relevant Aerospace/defense experience, with at least 5 years in mission systems integration.
- Education
- B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.
About the job
Leads end-to-end engineering and integration of mission systems for unmanned aircraft, from architecture and requirements through testing, flight test, and fielding.
What you'll do
- Lead mission-system architecture, requirements development, and integration for payloads, avionics, and weapons.
- Oversee integration and test campaigns from hardware-in-the-loop testing through flight test; ensure compliance with applicable standards.
- Lead trade studies and collaborate with program teams, customers, partners, and suppliers to mature system designs and certifications.
What they ask for
- B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- At least 7 years of relevant aerospace/defense experience, including at least 5 years in mission systems integration.
- Experience integrating aircraft payloads, avionics, and/or weapons, and with line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight aircraft communications.
- Active Secret clearance and ability to obtain a Top-Secret clearance.
Nice to have
- Master’s or PhD in Aerospace, Systems, or Electrical Engineering.
- Flight-test operations, advanced sensors, autonomy or AI-enabled payloads, guided weapons, or MBSE/SysML experience.
Pay
USD 185,000–280,000 per-year-salary (base salary)
Tools
MIL-HDBK-516C, DO-178C, DO-254, MOSA, OMS, GRA, MBSE, SysML
AI focus
Potential integration of autonomy and AI-enabled payloads; these are preferred areas of experience.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative