Senior Staff Engineer, Materials & Processes (R4227)
Shield AI
Dallas, TX, USA
USD 166,632-249,948 / year + Equity
Posted on Dec 19, 2025
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With nine offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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:
As a Materials & Processes Engineer, you will own and shape the entire materials and process specification ecosystem that underpins our next-generation aircraft. You’ll develop the core specifications, tolerance frameworks, and quality assurance processes that define how our vehicles are built and certified. You’ll design ambitious test matrices to qualify and characterize advanced materials and manufacturing methods, partnering closely with cross-functional teams to guide real program decisions and unlock new capabilities. You will also architect airworthiness plans and lead the effort to ensure our materials and processes meet the rigorous requirements needed to put disruptive autonomous aircraft into the sky. This is a highly impactful role where your work directly influences performance, reliability, and safety across the entire platform.
What you'll do:
- Develop and maintain material specification database
- Develop and maintain manufacturing process specifications
- Provide guidance for fatigue and corrosion prevention
- Support environmental qualification testing
- Design and implement test plans in support of material, component, and process qualification
- Develop and maintain QA inspection process specifications
- Work with suppliers to ensure proper implementation of process specifications
- Assist with dispositioning of nonconformances
- Ensure compliance with airworthiness standards
- Work with multifunctional teams for selection of materials and manufacturing processes
Required qualifications:
- Working knowledge of relevant industry standards including those pertaining to coupon and element level testing and material qualification
- Working knowledge of manufacturing processes (including composite layups, secondary bonding, heat treatment, welding, etc)
- Knowledge of material properties, methods for characterization, and failure mechanisms
- Experience with test design, test execution, and the derivation of material specifications from test results
- Experience with composite materials including prepreg systems and secondary bonding
- Works well in a collaborative setting
- Experience developing process specifications
- Experience working with multifunctional teams in a collaborative setting
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience with fatigue testing
- Experience with DADT testing
- Experience with non-destructive inspection
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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.
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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.
166632 - 249948 USD a year