Engineering Manager, Structural Design (r4825)

Shield AI Shield AI · Defense · San Diego, CA +1 · X-BAT Engineering - Aerostructures

Shield AI is seeking an Aerostructures Design Manager to lead the design and development of structural components for their next-generation autonomous aircraft. The role requires significant hands-on design experience with composite or metallic airframes and demonstrated team leadership experience.

What you'd actually do

  1. lead the design and develop high-performance structural components from concept through production release.
  2. work cross-functionally to ensure structural integrity, manufacturability, and system integration across one of the most advanced autonomous aircraft platforms being built today.
  3. lead the design and develop high-performance structural components from concept through production release.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related discipline.
  • 8+ years of experience in aircraft structural design or closely related aerospace structures.
  • Experience with team leadership as a project or IPT style team lead
  • Experience designing and releasing structural components in development or production environments.
  • Working knowledge of composite and metallic structures, including fasteners, bonded joints, and load paths.
  • Proficiency in CAD tools (NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, or similar).
  • Understanding of GD&T, tolerance stackups, and DFMA principles.
  • Strong written and verbal technical communication skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to operate in fast-paced, high-ownership engineering environments.

Nice to have

  • M.S. degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering.
  • Experience supporting UAV, DoD, or aerospace full vehicle programs.
  • Familiarity with aerospace standards (MIL-STD, ASME Y14.5, FAA).
  • Experience fabricating and testing large scale aerospace structures such as wings, fuselages or similar.
  • Demonstrated understanding of composite manufacturing methods.
  • Experience using FEA tools (ANSYS, Abaqus, NASTRAN, or similar) for linear structural analysis.

What the JD emphasized

  • significant hands-on design experience with both composite or metallic airframes
  • demonstrated team lead experience