Senior Staff Engineer, Structures and Vibration (6237)

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit [](https://shield.ai/). Follow Shield AI on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai), [X](https://x.com/shieldaitech), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/shield_ai), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@Shield_AI). ### Job Description: Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Structural Analysis & Vibration Engineer to serve as the structural and vibration subject-matter expert (SME) for V-BAT. V-BAT is a Group 3 vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system in production and deployed with customers worldwide. You will be the structural technical authority for V-BAT. You will own system loads, stress and dynamics analysis, vibration requirements and testing, and weight optimization. This is a high-impact, company-level role. You will develop and define system-level structural requirements, design criteria, analysis methods, and material allowables that will guide structural work across V-BAT. You will also mentor engineers in FEA and structural fundamentals. This role is ideal for engineers with 12–15+ years of experience who have served as the structural lead or technical authority on an aircraft program. ### What you'll do: - Develop and maintain company structural standards, including design criteria, factors of safety and margin policy, 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 of V-BAT structures 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. Assess existing profiles and use measured flight data to develop defensible test requirements. - Define and improve vibration test requirements and processes, from test planning through verification, validation, and model-to-test correlation. - Lead a program-wide weight optimization review of existing designs, and analyze new designs for weight efficiency and material selection. - Review structural analyses, test reports, and design review content, and present findings to engineering leadership and customers. - Mentor engineers in FEA and structural fundamentals, and build the team's structural analysis capability. - Provide structural guidance on design changes and production issues as needed ### 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 serving 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. ### Preferred qualifications: - 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.