Senior Staff Engineer, Structures and Vibration (6237)

The role

This role leads structural analysis and vibration engineering for the V-BAT aircraft program. The engineer sets structural standards, defines test requirements, and mentors other engineers in FEA and structural fundamentals.

What you will do

• Develop and maintain company structural standards, including design criteria, factors of safety, analysis methods, material allowables and joint design practices.
• Own V-BAT system loads and define structural requirements for subsystems, components and suppliers.
• Lead and perform static, stability, modal, dynamic and fatigue analyses using hand calculations and FEA (Simcenter).
• Lead composite structural analysis and define composite design requirements.
• Serve as the bolted joint expert for the program.
• Own vibration and shock environments and develop defensible test requirements from measured flight data.
• Define and improve vibration test requirements and processes, including model-to-test correlation.
• Lead a program-wide weight optimization review and analyze new designs for weight efficiency.
• Review structural analyses and test reports and present findings to engineering leadership and customers.
• Mentor engineers in FEA and structural fundamentals and build the team's structural analysis capability.

Required qualifications

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or a related discipline.
• 12+ years of structural analysis experience on aircraft, UAS or comparable complex system, including as a structural lead or technical authority.
• Experience creating structural design criteria, analysis methods or engineering standards.
• Expert knowledge of structural mechanics and hand calculations, including strength, stability, fatigue and structural dynamics.
• Expertise with FEA tools, preferably Siemens Simcenter (Nastran or Femap), or equivalents such as ANSYS or Abaqus.
• Significant experience analyzing composite aircraft structures and defining composite design requirements.
• Expert-level knowledge of bolted joint analysis and design.
• Hands-on experience with vibration and shock testing, including test planning, instrumentation and data review, plus working knowledge of MIL-STD-810.
• Proven track record of mentoring engineers.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering.
• Experience as the lead structural engineer on a Group 2–5 UAS, rotorcraft or VTOL aircraft.
• Experience deriving vibration environments from flight test data (PSD analysis, fatigue damage spectrum, test tailoring).
• Experience with modal testing and FEA model correlation.
• Experience leading structural weight reduction programs.
• Experience developing composite allowables (e.g., CMH-17) and knowledge of composite manufacturing processes.
• Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-516, RTCA DO-160 and aircraft structural certification.
• Experience in startup or high-growth defense environments.

Benefits

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

Before you apply

• All 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 building intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.