Engineering Manager, Air Vehicle Mechanical Systems (R5391)

<div><span data-contrast="auto">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&nbsp;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&nbsp;</span><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://shield.ai/"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">www.shield.ai</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">. Follow Shield AI on&nbsp;</span><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">LinkedIn</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">,&nbsp;</span><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://x.com/shieldaitech"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">X</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">,&nbsp;</span><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/shield_ai"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">Instagram</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, and&nbsp;</span><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/@Shield_AI"><span data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink">YouTube</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{&quot;335559685&quot;:720}">&nbsp;</span></div><div><br></div><div><strong style="font-size: 18px;">Job Description: </strong></div> <div>Shield AI is seeking a Manager of Actuated Systems to lead an aircraft mechanical systems team for our groundbreaking jet-engine VTOL military UAV platform, X-BAT. You will manage a team of engineers designing and integrating flight- and mission-critical mechanisms such as doors, uplocks/downlocks, landing gear, folding/packaging mechanisms, flight-control actuation integration, and propulsion/nozzle actuation mechanisms. You will support your team in making key architectural decisions, by being a key technical resource, and by being a strong leader of great engineers.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Projects that you might work on:<br>X-BAT Doors, FCAS, Landing Gear, Up/Down Locks</div> <div>&nbsp;</div><h3>What you'll do:</h3> <li>Lead and develop a team of high talent mechanical engineers, from new grad to Principal, focused on aircraft mechanisms and actuation systems (architecture, detailed design, analysis support, release, and sustaining).</li> <li>Support your team as a technical resource for end-to-end design of mechanisms including (as applicable): </li><li>Doors &amp; latching</li> <li>Uplocks / Downlocks</li> <li>Landing gear mechanisms</li> <li>Actuation integration for flight controls</li> <li>Nozzle / propulsion actuation mechanisms</li> <li>Actuation, Hydraulics</li> <li>Set the quality bar for mechanisms engineering: what “good” looks like in sizing, tolerances, margins, drawings/MBD, materials/process selection, and verification evidence.</li> <li>Enable extreme ownership by ensuring engineers have clear goals, interfaces, resources, and decision rights</li> <li>Drive effective cross-functional collaboration (systems, structures/loads, aero, propulsion, GNC, avionics, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, test, flight test) by fostering excelling communication across interfaces.</li> <li>Coach and develop engineers through technical mentorship, career development, feedback, hiring, onboarding, and performance management.</li> <li>Manage team workload across multiple builds and test campaigns; communicate risk, staffing needs, and schedule impacts with transparency.</li> <h3>Required qualifications:</h3> <li>B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).</li> <li>10+ years experience with aerospace mechanisms and actuated system design, build, integration, test and flight.</li> <li>2+ years leading teams or performing in a team leadership role.</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to lead teams with high autonomy—setting direction, ensuring quality, and scaling output through people.</li> <li>Strong engineering fundamentals: kinematics, statics/dynamics, fatigue/wear, tolerancing/GD&amp;T, materials and finishes, lubrication/bearings, failure modes.</li> <li>Experience shipping hardware through prototype build, test, iteration, and release, including supplier and manufacturing engagement.</li> <h3>Preferred qualifications: </h3> <li>Experience with environmental and operational robustness (vibration/shock, thermal extremes, contamination, corrosion, sand/dust, etc.).</li> <li>Experience supporting ground test and flight test campaigns and mechanism failure investigations.</li> <li>Familiarity with reliability and safety methods (DFMEA/FTA, fault containment, safe-state thinking) in collaboration with systems safety.</li> <li>Experience building supplier relationships for machined parts, actuation systems, mechanisms assemblies, understanding of special processes and inspection/acceptance strategies.</li>