---
title: 'Engineer II, Mission Systems (R6241) at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-ii-mission-systems-r6241-shield-ai-dallas-8r5banr89793'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Engineer II, Mission Systems (R6241) at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Dallas, TX
- **Compensation:** $92k–$130k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/48133d4b-26e6-4532-a8a3-1984d5edd425

## Job description

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 www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description: Shield AI’s mission is to protect the lives of service members and civilians with intelligent systems. As a Mission Systems Engineer II, you will support the hands-on integration of avionics, sensors, and mission payloads onto the V-BAT and our next-generation aircraft. We’re looking for engineers with a strong mix of hardware and software experience—people who can move fluidly from hardware and software integration and system bring-up to real-time troubleshooting. Ideal candidates have hands-on experience taking hardware–software systems from 0→1, understanding what truly matters to end users, and delivering reliable capabilities into real-world field use. In this role, you will contribute to the specification, integration, testing, and validation of mission and avionics systems that expand the capabilities of our aircraft. You’ll work closely with electrical, mechanical, software, and flight test teams in both the lab and the field, supporting the development lifecycle of payload systems from concept through deployment. Help us save lives as we strive to deliver the most highly reliable aerospace hardware in the industry.

What you'll do:

- Support the design, integration, and validation of avionics and mission sensors and payloads for V-BAT —from concept through production & deployment
- Collaborate with operators, mission SMEs, and internal stakeholders to understand user needs and prioritize system features and capabilities.
- Support and drive 0→1 development: take loosely defined mission problems, propose solutions, prototype quickly, iterate with flight test data, and mature systems into production-ready capabilities.
- Work with cross functional development: mechanical & electrical design, firmware/embedded interfaces, data paths, networking, and onboard software integration.
- Assist in debugging and root-cause complex hardware, software, and integration failures throughout development and flight operations.
- Conduct hands-on bring-up, lab testing, HIL testing, and flight test preparation.
- Support flight operations with real-time troubleshooting, anomaly resolution, and post-mission data analysis.
- Use Python, MATLAB, or similar tools to analyze logs, automate tests, and drive informed design decisions.
- Collaborate with Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Flight Test, and Manufacturing to deliver reliable and maintainable avionics systems.
- Contribute to continuous design improvement to increase reliability, robustness, and mission performance.

Required qualifications:

- B.S. in Electrical Engineering or related STEM field.
- 2-5 years engineering experience with electrical system design, integration, testing, debug, and repair
- Hands-on experience with test equipment, schematics, harness/wiring diagrams, and HW/SW debugging.
- Experience working on multidisciplinary hardware development projects, which can be from an internship, job, club, team, personal project, etc…
- Demonstrated ability to take ownership of tasks and deliver reliable results within a multidisciplinary engineering team. Record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience integrating avionics, sensors, radios, mission payloads, or flight computing systems.
- Experience with flight test, field testing, or hardware-in-the-loop development.
- Experience with Python or any scripting language.
- Active Secret Security Clearance (or ability to obtain one if needed.
- Demonstrated adaptability, agility, and the ability to innovate under pressure to meet dynamic project demands and drive successful outcomes.
- Experience contributing to the development of a hardware + software system from concept through testing or deployment.

## #LI-AD6

#LB

Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

###

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

## About Shield AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shield AI builds AI pilots and autonomous systems for military aircraft to protect service members and civilians.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G, venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Diego, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, aerospace
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations’ military forces (B2G / Government)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.”

## Products & Services
- **Hivemind**: A combat‑tested, modular autonomy stack for aircraft – self‑driving technology for drones, jets, and helicopters. Includes path‑planning, mapping, state‑estimation, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. Type: Software (AI/autonomy).
- **V‑BAT**: A vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed for persistent ISR and strike missions. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **X‑BAT**: An advanced unmanned aircraft system with extended endurance and payload capacity, built for multi‑domain operations. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **Hivemind Vision Systems**: Computer‑vision and sensor‑fusion capabilities integrated into Hivemind for GPS‑denied environments. Type: Software + sensors.
- **Hivemind Enterprise**: A deployable version of Hivemind for third‑party platforms and commercial applications. Type: Software.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Total funding raised: $3.6B (as of Series G in March 2026).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$21.7M (estimated, private) | Total Funding $3.6B (including $2B Series G led by JP Morgan Chase and Advent International, March 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: JP Morgan Chase, Advent International, Blackstone, Riot Ventures, SnowPoint Ventures, Disruptive (55+ investors total). Strategic partners include U.S. DoD and allied defense forces.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 68.3% YoY to 1,283 employees; 338 active job postings (+57.2% YoY); operates in 5 countries (U.S., Australia, UAE, Norway, Ukraine); recent acquisitions of Sentient Vision Systems (2024), Heron Systems, MARTIN UAV.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Combat‑proven autonomy**: Hivemind has been tested in live military operations, providing a first‑mover advantage in contested, GPS‑denied environments.
- **Full‑stack integration**: Combines software (AI pilot), hardware (V‑BAT, X‑BAT), and sensor systems, creating a tightly integrated product ecosystem.
- **Cross‑functional engineering culture**: Engineers work across AI, robotics, aerospace, and defense – not siloed – enabling rapid iteration and field deployment.
- **Top talent pipeline**: Employees drawn from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Amazon, Anduril, and other leading defense/tech firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI pilots across all domains**: Extend Hivemind from aircraft to ships, satellites, and ground vehicles (“every military asset”).
- **International expansion**: Growing presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East via mission autonomy centers and partnerships.
- **Deepen autonomy stack**: Continued investment in reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision to maintain leadership in contested‑environment autonomy.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven work**: Directly contribute to protecting service members and civilians with cutting‑edge AI and robotics.
- **Cross‑functional teams**: Engineers collaborate across disciplines (AI, hardware, software, systems) on real‑world defense challenges.
- **Benefits**: Excellent medical coverage, mental health EAP, paid parental leave, pet insurance, flexible work hours, gym discounts (SD) / on‑site gym (DC), free parking, competitive compensation, 401k with match, stock benefits.
- **Work policy**: Flexible work hours; some offices (e.g., San Diego HQ, Arlington, DC) have on‑site facilities. Remote/hybrid options available depending on role.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling (68% headcount growth) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, operations, and program management.

## Sources
1. [shield.ai/about](https://shield.ai/about/)
2. [shield.ai/careers](https://shield.ai/careers/)
3. [LinkedIn – Shield AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai)
4. [CBInsights – Shield AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shield-ai)
5. [Lever – Shield AI Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai)

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- [Staff Engineer, Fuel Systems - Ranger (R6299)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-fuel-systems-ranger-r6299-shield-ai-seattle-66cbvba47hb6) — Seattle, WA
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