Manager, Environmental Control Systems & Thermal Engineering (R6306)

The role

You will lead and develop a team of engineers working on environmental control systems and aircraft thermal management for the X-BAT program. You will also help bring these capabilities to Group 5 programs.

What you will do

• Manage, mentor, and develop individual contributors; set goals, give feedback, and support growth
• Set priorities, ownership, staffing, and execution cadence for X-BAT and Group 5 work
• Guide ECS and thermal architecture, trades, and design reviews
• Set expectations for requirements, reviews, verification, risk management, and design release
• Resolve interfaces with structures, propulsion, avionics, EWIS, payloads, manufacturing, systems engineering, and test teams
• Lead component, qualification, ground, and flight test planning
• Set expectations for components, specifications, SOWs, supplier reviews, and prototype builds
• Engage in first-principles analysis and root-cause investigations, and coach engineers
• Represent the team in program and engineering reviews
• Communicate decisions, risks, progress, resources, and dependencies

Required qualifications

• US citizen only
• Active Secret or higher security clearance
• 8+ years in aerospace environmental control systems, thermal engineering, fluid systems, or comparable aircraft mechanical systems development
• Experience directly managing and developing individual contributors
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• Deep understanding of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and aircraft thermal management
• Ability to guide architecture, requirements, analysis, design, integration, and verification through hardware delivery
• Sound engineering judgment, early risk identification, and clear communication
• Record of working hard, building trust, maintaining high standards, and treating others with kindness

Nice to have

• Experience managing engineers on UAV, autonomous aircraft, fighter, tactical aircraft, or other high-performance aerospace programs
• Experience with Group 5 aircraft, aircraft-level thermal management, ECS, or integrated fluid and thermal systems
• Hands-on experience with thermal and fluid testing, instrumentation, data acquisition, model correlation, or flight-test troubleshooting
• Experience with first-principles analysis, fluid-thermal network modeling, CFD, or thermal-analysis tools such as FloEFD, STAR-CCM+, Thermal Desktop, Amesim, or Flowmaster
• Familiarity with MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-516, RTCA DO-160, and SAE AIR or ARP standards
• Experience with aerospace suppliers, COTS or custom components, technical specifications, SOWs, and prototype or vehicle-level test setups
• Experience hiring, onboarding, and scaling a small engineering team in a rapid R&D or production environment
• Advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity (full-time regular employees)
• Benefits (full-time regular employees)
• Temporary benefits package, applicable after 60 days of employment (temporary employees)

Before you apply

• US citizens only
• Must hold an active Secret or higher clearance
• Offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.