Staff Engineer, Shield AI
Mechanical, Harness Design
$136.7-205.1k
+ Bonus + Equity
Building AI aircraft pilots
Be an early applicant
Building AI aircraft pilots
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$136.7-205.1k
+ Bonus + Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Aerospace Engineering
- 8+ years in wire harness design for aerospace or robotics
- Strong CAD skills (NX or CATIA preferred) for 3D harness modeling
- Experience using EWIS design software (Zuken, Capital, etc)
- Expertise in GD&T, tolerance stack-ups, and IPC/WHMA-A-620 standards
- Experience with electrical schematics and connector selection
- Hands-on experience with harness fabrication or testing
- Ability to work independently and lead in fast-paced, cross-functional teams
- A demonstrated record of working hard, being trustworthy, holding yourself to high standards, and being kind to others
Desirable
- Experience designing harnesses for UAVs, aircraft, or spacecraft
- Familiarity with EWIS compliance and RTCA DO-160 testing
- Proficiency in failure mode analysis (FMEA) and root cause investigations
- Knowledge of Teamcenter or similar PLM systems
What the job involves
- Shield AI is seeking a Staff Harness Design Engineer with deep expertise in harness design to support the development of our next-generation autonomous UAV platform. In this high-ownership role, you will lead the architecture, design, and development of precision wire harnesses and cable assemblies that are critical to mission success
- Lead design of wire harnesses and cable assemblies for autonomous UAVs
- Own harness design process: concept, 3D CAD routing, analysis, and drawing release
- Perform electrical and environmental analysis for harness reliability
- Prototype and test harnesses in dynamic, mission-critical environments
- Collaborate with avionics, systems, and manufacturing teams for integration
- Mentor engineers and drive harness design best practices
Our take
Self-driving vehicles present enormous benefits for the transportation industry, with the potential to increase the safety and efficiency of cars, trucks, and commercial airlines. However, such technological innovation is less present within the military transportation sector, despite the benefits that AI piloting would produce for the operation of drones and aircraft.
Shield AI is developing Hivemind, an AI-driven pilot that can operate drones and aircraft autonomously, without needing GPS, communications, or pilots. In addition to navigation, the technology is also designed to facilitate indoor building clearance, integrated defense breaching, and has the ability to learn and autonomously execute aircraft missions.
Whilst similar AI-driven pilot software has begun to appear in Chinese military research programs, Shield AI's target is the US. By developing fully autonomous piloting integrations for any type of aircraft, the company aims to future-proof the US military without the need for bespoke aircraft design. It has generated massive amounts of funding to support continued scaling and R&D efforts.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 14 rounds)
Mar 2026
$1.5bn
SERIES G
Mar 2026
$500m
LATE VC
Total funding: $3.0bn
Company benefits
- Excellent Medical Coverage
- Mental Health Employee Assistance Program
- Paid Parental Leave
- Pet Insurance
- Flexible Work Hours
- Gym Discount (San Diego)
- Onsite Gym (DC)
- Free Parking
- Competitive Compensation
- 401K Services and Match
- Stock Benefits
Company HQ
Core-Columbia, San Diego, CA
Leadership
Ryan Tseng
(Co-Founder & President)Experience as CEO, CTO and Founder of WiPower from 2006 to 2010. Technical Lead for Wireless Power Program for Qualcomm from 2010 to 2013.
Brandon Tseng
(Co-Founder & President)Naval Officer for the US Navy from 2009 to 2015.
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