Staff Engineer, Quality Assurance (R5358)

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 is seeking a Quality Assurance to support the development and flight test of the X-BAT program. This role is heavily embedded with flight test and engineering operations and is responsible for ensuring test articles are properly configured, inspected, documented, and ready for safe and effective ground and flight testing.You will work closely with flight test, systems, design, manufacturing, test engineering, and program teams to identify and manage quality risks, resolve discrepancies, maintain configuration and traceability, and ensure test activities are executed in accordance with engineering requirements and approved processes.

What you'll do:

Support ground and flight test readiness, including hardware inspections, configuration verification, test article acceptance, and review of test documentation

Work directly with flight test and engineering teams to identify, document, and resolve hardware, configuration, process, and test discrepancies

Review engineering drawings, specifications, test procedures, work instructions, configuration records, and acceptance criteria

Ensure test articles meet applicable engineering, quality, safety, and configuration requirements before testing

Support execution of ground and flight test activities, including inspections, test point readiness, discrepancy resolution, and post-test evaluations

Manage nonconformances, test discrepancies, and quality records through appropriate containment, investigation, disposition, and corrective action

Lead or support root cause analysis and corrective actions for product, process, and test-related issues

Identify emerging quality risks and work with engineering and test teams to implement practical mitigations

Analyze test and quality data to identify trends, recurring issues, and opportunities to improve development and test processes

Support configuration management and traceability of developmental hardware, assemblies, and test articles

Ensure objective evidence and quality records are complete and support product and test requirements

Promote a culture of safety, technical rigor, accountability, and disciplined execution in developmental test operation

Required qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, technology, quality, or related field, or equivalent experience supporting developmental test operations

5+ years of experience supporting developmental and/or operational ground or flight test 

Experience working directly with developmental aircraft, complex aerospace hardware, or mission-critical systems

Ability to interpret engineering drawings, technical specifications, bills of materials, test procedures, work instructions, and acceptance requirements

Comfortable working in a fast-paced developmental test environment with changing requirements and priorities

Willingness to work outdoors at test ranges and travel as required

Overtime, evening, and weekend coverage as required by flight test operations

Preferred qualifications:

10+ years of experience supporting developmental or operational flight test

Experience with unmanned aircraft, prototype aircraft, weapons systems, or other mission-critical aerospace systems

Experience with flight test readiness, test article acceptance, configuration verification, or post-test inspection

Working knowledge of AS9100 and aerospace/defense quality requirements

Experience with MRB, NCR, RCCA, CAPA, and other quality proces …