Staff Engineer, Fluid and Mechanical Systems (RX) (R6000)

Shield AI•Dallas, TX

17h•$142,880 - $214,320

About The Position

As a Staff (L4) Fluid and Mechanical Systems Engineer, you will be a hands-on multi-disciplinary owner of fluid-system layouts, thermal transport hardware, and adjacent mechanical design for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft. You will apply first-principles engineering to develop ram-air circuits, liquid cooling systems, ECS/TMS fluid architecture, and supporting mechanical installations that are buildable, maintainable, and ready for vehicle integration. This position requires a balance of technical rigor, rapid decision-making, and hands-on engineering to efficiently transition concepts into operational capability. The ideal candidate is comfortable solving complex problems, taking ownership, working within an accelerated aircraft development environment, and is motivated by getting meaningful capability into the hands of operators quickly.

Requirements

US Citizens Only & Must have an Active Secret or higher clearance.
7 to 12 years of fluid systems design, thermal systems analysis, or mechanical systems installation experience in aerospace or a comparable regulated industry.
B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
Deep mastery of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mechanical design fundamentals, and tolerance stack-up methodologies.
Demonstrated capability with fluid system sizing and analysis, including pressure drop, flow networks, heat transfer, and 1D fluid or thermal system modeling.
Demonstrated ability to create fluid-system layouts and mechanical installations that satisfy routing, packaging, maintainability, structural-interface, and vehicle-integration requirements.
Experience in 3D CAD modeling, routing, layouts, and drawing release with Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks, or equivalent PLM workflows.
Hands-on capability designing brackets, mounts, supports, and installation hardware using hand calculations, tolerance analysis, and basic structural analysis.
Proven track record sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components, driving suppliers to schedule, and assembling benchtop or vehicle-level test setups.
Demonstrated ability to self-direct, prioritize technical tasks without oversight, and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines.

Nice To Haves

Aircraft ram-air, liquid cooling, hydraulic, fuel, or thermal transport loop design experience.
ECS or thermal management system design and integration experience.
Experience with electro-mechanical or electro-hydrostatic actuation systems and associated mechanical installations.
Familiarity with MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-516, and airworthiness verification planning for fluid and mechanical systems.
Hands-on prototype-build, fabrication, or mechanical assembly experience in a rapid R&D environment.

Responsibilities

Develop and mature aircraft fluid system layouts for ram-air circuits, liquid cooling loops, ECS/TMS fluid circuits, and hydraulic distribution as applicable, including routing, packaging, and installation concepts.
Perform pressure-drop, flow-balance, pump and reservoir sizing, and thermal-transport capacity calculations to establish system performance and hardware requirements.
Build and maintain fluid and thermal system models using Flowmaster, AMESim, GFSSP, or equivalent tools to support design decisions, trade assessments, and requirements verification.
Design supporting mechanical hardware, brackets, mounts, line supports, and installation provisions; perform tolerance analysis, clearance assessments, hand calculations, and basic FEA as needed.
Select and specify pumps, valves, heat exchangers, accumulators, filters, lines, fittings, actuators, and associated hardware for fluid and actuated system installations.
Resolve interfaces with structures, EWIS, thermal management, electrical power, and adjacent mechanical systems, including routing, maintainability, and installation-clearance requirements.
Support failure mode analysis, contamination control, leak prevention, and system-level redundancy definition for assigned fluid and actuated systems.
Support component sourcing, technical specifications, supplier technical execution, prototype assembly, and test-fixture development.
Define and execute qualification test plans per MIL-STD-810, using results to mature the design into production-ready hardware and support MIL-HDBK-516 Airworthiness Certification.