Principal Propulsion Engineer (R6453)

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 .

We are seeking a highly skilled Propulsion Design Engineer to serve as a senior technical contributor within our propulsion team. This role focuses on the design, release, and continual improvement of mechanical components and assemblies for internal combustion and jet propulsion systems on UAV platforms.

As a design engineer, you’ll lead complex CAD efforts, enforce rigorous design standards, and collaborate directly with Responsible Engineers, technicians, machinists, and production teams to ensure our propulsion hardware is functional, manufacturable, and testable. You will be the cornerstone of configuration control, interface discipline, and design-for-execution within the team.

What You'll Do

Own the design of propulsion components and subsystems from concept through production release

Develop and maintain high-quality CAD models, detailed drawings, and assemblies using Siemens NX with fully applied GD&T

Write and enforce propulsion design standards and contribute to company-wide design best practices

Collaborate closely with the machine shop, production team, and technicians to support builds, resolve non-conformances, and drive iterative improvements

Develop initial work instructions, assembly guidance, and design documentation