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Shield AI, a venture-backed defense-tech company, is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer for Avionics Systems to lead the technical execution of next-generation unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for national defense. You will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and integrating cutting-edge autonomous aircraft avionics architectures that operate in contested environments.
In this role, you will own the avionics architecture for the next-gen UAS program, covering flight and mission computers, data networks, navigation, communications, sensor payloads, and their interfaces with autonomy and propulsion systems. You will define and document system-level behavior including modes, states, transitions, redundancy management, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery. Your work will support safety analyses (FHA, FMEA, FTA) by defining behavior under fault conditions.
Key responsibilities include establishing top-level requirements and breaking them down into avionics subsystem requirements, owning interface control documents (ICDs) with traceability across the development lifecycle. You will define navigation architectures including GPS/INS and alternative navigation for GPS-denied operations, as well as datalink and communications architectures for reliable command, control, and mission data in contested environments.
You will lead integration of avionics hardware and data buses (Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, CAN), manage thermal, EMI/EMC, and environmental considerations, and work closely with autonomy and software teams to ensure the avionics architecture provides necessary compute, sensor data, and determinism for flight control and mission execution. You will engage with DoD stakeholders, industry partners, and avionics suppliers to align system capabilities with operational requirements.
This position requires deep expertise in aerospace systems engineering, avionics architecture, and complex system integration. You will work across hardware, software, autonomy, flight operations, and manufacturing teams to develop a scalable, mission-ready platform.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Minimum 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree
- Demonstrated experience defining system behavior logic, operational modes, and redundancy and fault management
- Deep expertise in avionics architecture and integration, including flight computers, navigation systems, datalinks, and avionics data buses
- Proficiency in MBSE, DOORS, SysML, Cameo, or similar system modeling tools for complex systems design and analysis
- Experience with Group 4 or Group 5 UAS, military aircraft, or autonomous airborne platforms
- Strong background in avionics integration, hardware/software integration labs, flight testing, and performance validation
- Knowledge of DoD acquisition processes, airworthiness (MIL-HDBK-516C), and avionics standards (MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-810, DO-178C, DO-254)
- Experience on a developmental program from clean sheet to first flight
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, agile environment with shifting priorities
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience with alternative navigation, assured PNT, or GPS-denied navigation solutions
- Expertise in sensor integration for airborne platforms
- Familiarity with modular open system architectures (MOSA), Government Reference Architectures (GRA), or open standards such as SOSA and FACE
- Experience developing or integrating AI-driven autonomy for unmanned aircraft
- Prior experience working with defense primes, DoD stakeholders, or government R&D programs
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
