← All roles

Senior Staff Engineer, Weapons Integration - Ranger (R6323)

Shield AI· X-BAT Division – X-BAT Engineering - MEG
Apply on company site
Seattle, WA$210k - $320kFull Time EmployeePosted 4d ago

About the role

Senior Staff Engineer responsible for the technical architecture, development, and integration of weapons mission-critical subsystems for an advanced autonomous aircraft. Acts as technical authority across mission computing, avionics, payloads, communications, and support systems, guiding from concept through integration, verification, flight test, and fielding while ensuring safety, airworthiness, and compliance.

Responsibilities

  • Own architecture, requirements development and allocation, and integration strategy across data storage, weapons, payloads, avionics, and supporting aircraft systems. Establish performance budgets, interface definitions, and verification criteria that align subsystem designs with vehicle level objectives.
  • Serve as a technical authority for weapons integration, leading complex trade studies and system of systems analyses to balance performance, latency, bandwidth, storage capacity, reliability, power, cost, and schedule. Resolve architectural conflicts and guide consequential hardware and software decisions.
  • Define and guide integration and verification campaigns from laboratory and hardware in the loop testing through flight test and fielding. Partner with safety, airworthiness, and certification teams to establish compliance approaches addressing applicable MIL Standards and objectives, and drive resolution of critical anomalies and performance gaps.
  • Lead multidisciplinary technical reviews and readiness assessments, aligning engineering teams, program leadership, customers, and partners on architecture decisions, technical maturity, integration risks, and mitigation plans. Mentor engineers and establish consistent practices for requirements quality, interface management, configuration control, and verification.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline, with 10 or more years of relevant aerospace or defense experience, including at least 5 years developing and integrating weapons or complex aircraft mission systems.
  • Demonstrated technical ownership of mission system architectures spanning mission computing, data storage, avionics, payloads, and communications, including line of sight and beyond line of sight systems.
  • Strong knowledge of systems engineering and product development practices, including requirements decomposition, architecture trade studies, interface management, configuration control, technical risk management, and verification and validation. Experience applying Modular Open Systems Approach principles and relevant frameworks such as Open Mission Systems, Government Reference Architectures, or modular avionics standards.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead multidisciplinary technical teams and supplier engineering activities from architecture definition through integration, test, and fielding. Experience guiding design reviews, resolving complex integration issues, assessing technical maturity, and supporting safety and airworthiness compliance activities involving applicable DO 178C and DO 254 objectives.
  • Strong technical communication and influencing skills, with experience presenting architecture decisions, performance evidence, technical risks, and recommendations to engineering leaders, executives, and customers. Active U.S. Secret security clearance and the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance.

Skills

Required:Architecture development and allocationTrade studies and system-of-systems analysesIntegration and verification planningSafety and airworthiness compliance ( DO-178C, DO-254 )Technical leadership and mentoringTechnical communication

Benefits

  • Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
  • Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location.
  • All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
  • Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Shield AI

Autonomy for the world.

Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

AerospaceAutonomyDefenseliquid-ai-recruiting-targetsetter-30setter-30-2026-q1
Company profileWebsite

More open roles at Shield AI