Senior Staff Engineer, Systems (R
About The Position
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 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. We are seeking a GCS / Communications Systems Engineer to lead the development, integration, and validation of ground control station and communication architectures supporting advanced military aircraft and autonomous systems. This role directly impacts mission effectiveness, command and control reliability, platform connectivity, and operational resiliency by ensuring robust communication between air, ground, and distributed mission systems. The engineer will define system behaviors, operational workflows, and communication architectures across the full lifecycle, from concept development through flight and operational test. This role plays a critical part in reducing integration risk, improving network resiliency, and accelerating deployment of mission-critical communication capabilities.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field
- 5+ years of experience in communications systems, networking, mission systems, or military aerospace integration
- Experience with GCS architectures, datalinks, RF systems, networking, or airborne communication systems
- Familiarity with LOS/BLOS communications, SATCOM, IP networking, encryption technologies, and hardware/software integration environments
- Strong systems engineering, troubleshooting, and cross-functional communication skills
Nice To Haves
- Experience supporting UAV, fighter aircraft, autonomous systems, or military communication networks
- Experience defining operational behaviors, activity diagrams, CONOPS, or system architectures using MBSE tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler
- Background in integration labs, flight test, network resiliency, or tactical communication systems
- Familiarity with cybersecurity, RMF, resilient communications, and contested environment operations
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred
Responsibilities
- Define GCS and communication system behaviors, operational workflows, and activity diagrams to ensure reliable command, control, telemetry, payload, and mission data exchange
- Develop and integrate communication architectures including RF links, SATCOM, LOS/BLOS datalinks, networking infrastructure, antennas, encryption devices, and mission control interfaces
- Lead cross-functional integration between avionics, mission systems, networking, cybersecurity, software, and test teams to improve system interoperability and reduce integration risk
- Develop and validate interface definitions, network architectures, link budgets, and communication performance requirements for airborne and ground-based systems
- Support lab, field, and flight test activities to troubleshoot communication issues, validate network performance, and improve operational resiliency and mission readiness
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity
- Temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
