Engineer I, Flight Test (R6219)

Shield AI · San Diego, California

  • Junior
  • Full-time
  • $74,000 – $110,000
  • Posted 2026-10-10
  • Confirmed live on 13 October 2026

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Job description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube. 

What you'll do:
• Support test planning and execution for integration of Hivemind Mission Autonomy capabilities onto unmanned platforms and mission-system configurations.

• Assist senior test engineers with defining test objectives, expected system behavior, acceptance criteria, verification methods, and test schedules.

• Help develop, execute, and maintain system-level test procedures, test cases, checklists, and test configurations.

• Support setup, configuration, operation, and troubleshooting of software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), simulation, laboratory, and automated test environments.

• Assist with installation, configuration, and verification of test hardware, software, networks, ground-control equipment, sensors, radios, computing systems, and supporting tools as applicable.

• Collect and organize test data, telemetry, logs, video, configuration information, and other evidence needed to evaluate system behavior.

• Help analyze test results, identify deviations from expected performance, document defects, and support root-cause investigations with systems, software, autonomy, and platform-integration teams.

• Contribute to performance metrics, test reports, test-readiness materials, dashboards, and other reporting artifacts for internal engineering teams and external stakeholders.

• Assist with maintaining test infrastructure, test automation, simulation tools, and repeatable test configurations.

• Support development and maintenance of test procedures, standard operating procedures, configuration-control records, lessons learned, and engineering documentation.

• Participate in test-readiness reviews, technical planning meetings, issue-triage sessions, and post-test debriefs.

• Follow established safety, security, configuration-management, and operational procedures during laboratory, simulation, integration, and flight-test activities.

• Travel periodically to internal test sites, customer locations, and platform-integration events as needed.

Required qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline, such as Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Robotics, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience may be considered.

• Foundational experience with engineering test, integration, troubleshooting, or verification activities through coursework, internships, research, military service, laboratory work, personal projects, or professional experience.

• Familiarity with basic systems-engineering and test concepts, including requirements, verification, validation, test procedures, configuration management, defect tracking, and technical documentation.

• Interest in autonomous systems, robotics, unmanned aircraft systems, flight-test operations, simulation, embedded systems, or software-and-hardware integration.

• Familiarity with Linux, Windows, command-line tools, networking basics, and/or scripting or programming languages such as Python, Bash, C++, or similar tools.

• Ability to work methodically, follow detailed procedures, maintain accurate records, and manage several tasks in a fast-paced engineering environment.

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, including the ability to investigate unexpected system behavior using logs, telemetry, test results, and input from subject-matter experts.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical findings to cross-functional engineering teams.

• Demonstrated reliability, accountability, teamwork, attention to detail, and commitment to maintaining a respectful and high-performing engineering culture.

• Ability to travel periodically in support of integration, testing, and customer activities.

Preferred qualifications:
• Internship, academic research, military, laboratory, personal-project, or professional experience involving UAS, autonomous vehicles, robotics, aviation, embedded systems, or complex integrated systems.

• Exposure to software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, simulation, modeling-and-simulation, or automated test environments.

• Familiarity with test automation, scripting, data collection, telemetry analysis, log analysis, or defect-tracking tools.

• Exposure to software-development and configuration-management practices, including Git, issue tracking, build systems, continuous integration, or test automation.

• Familiar

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