Senior Staff Engineer, Environmental Control Systems - Ranger (R6350)

The role

You will take full technical ownership of the Environmental Control System for a special access program, as its sole ECS subject matter expert. You will lead architecture, trade studies, system sizing, hardware design, supplier management, testing and flight-test troubleshooting.

What you will do

• Lead ECS architecture definition and trade studies to meet thermal, electrical, mass and volume constraints
• Design and analyze air inlets, scoops, ducting networks and ram-air cooling circuits
• Perform first-principles thermodynamic and heat transfer calculations backed by 1D fluid-thermal network modeling
• Author technical specifications and statements of work for ECS hardware and evaluate vendors
• Drive supplier technical execution
• Define qualification and verification test plans, design test rigs and execute test campaigns
• Process flight-test thermal and fluid data, perform root-cause investigation and implement rapid design changes
• Support proposals and capture work

Required qualifications

• 7 to 12 years of direct experience in aerospace Environmental Control System and vehicle thermal/fluid system development
• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline
• Deep mastery of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer applied to aircraft or defense systems
• Demonstrated capability with 1D system modeling (e.g., Amesim, Flowmaster, or Python/MATLAB fluid networks)
• Experience in 3D CAD modeling, routing and drawing release with PLM workflows
• Proven track record sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components, driving suppliers to schedule, and assembling test setups
• Demonstrated ability to self-direct and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines
• Clearance eligible

Nice to have

• Siemens NX experience (listed as preferred; CATIA or Creo accepted as equivalent)
• Familiarity with aerospace environmental requirements and test standards such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-310, RTCA DO-160 and SAE AIR/ARP standards

Benefits

• Bonus
• Benefits
• Equity

Before you apply

• Offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check
• Clearance eligible

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems, including Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies. It has offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.