Staff Engineer, Aerostructures Loads - Ranger (R6352)

Shield AI•Seattle, WA

20d•$170,000 - $260,000

About The Position

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Aerostructures Loads Engineer to define, analyze, and validate the loads environments that drive structural design for Project Ranger. The role develops vehicle- and component-level loads analyses across flight, ground, transport, handling, and test conditions to enable safe, efficient, flight-ready structural designs. The engineer applies aircraft loads fundamentals and sound engineering judgment to structural design, testing, and certification activities. The position works closely with structures, flight sciences, systems engineering, aerodynamics, flight controls, propulsion, manufacturing, and flight test teams to ensure the airframe is designed, validated, and operated within defined structural limits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
At least 8 years of experience performing loads analysis for air vehicles, rotorcraft, uncrewed aircraft, launch vehicles, automotive vehicles, or other complex vehicles.
Demonstrated experience developing loads models and performing static, dynamic, maneuver, gust, landing, ground, handling, transport, or test loads analyses for vehicle structures.
Strong understanding of structural mechanics, aircraft dynamics, aerodynamics, inertia relief, load paths, free-body diagrams, structural sizing inputs, and finite element model interface loads.
Proficiency with MATLAB, Python, Nastran, Patran, FEMAP, HyperMesh, or comparable loads analysis, data analysis, and finite element tools.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering with emphasis in structural dynamics, aeroelasticity, aircraft loads, flight mechanics, or a related field.
Experience supporting uncrewed aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft, rotorcraft, defense, space, or other aerospace vehicle development programs.
Experience developing or correlating loads models using flight test, ground test, structural test, strain gauge, pressure, acceleration, or other instrumentation data.
Familiarity with aeroelasticity, flutter, dynamic response, vibration, fatigue, durability, damage tolerance, or nonlinear structural analysis methods.
Experience working in multidisciplinary product development environments with structural design, stress analysis, flight sciences, manufacturing, systems engineering, and flight test teams.

Responsibilities

Develop air-vehicle and component-level loads analyses for primary and secondary structures.
Create and maintain loads models, free-body diagrams, load paths, load cases, design envelopes, and critical load conditions to inform structural sizing, design decisions, and verification planning.
Partner with Aerodynamics, Flight Controls, Mass Properties, Propulsion, and Systems Engineering to define external, inertial, aerodynamic, actuator, and interface loads, as well as vehicle operating conditions.
Deliver loads documentation, including design load reports, interface control loads, critical condition summaries, assumptions, margins, and recommendations for structures, test, and certification stakeholders.
Support ground and flight test planning, instrumentation definition, correlation activities, structural test execution, and post-test data analysis to validate models and refine structural loads predictions.