Staff Engineer, Safety - X-BAT (R5844)

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 Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

The Safety Engineer for the X-BAT program will support the development, integration, and verification of system-level safety requirements for this revolutionary next-generation platform. This role bridges engineering design, system safety analysis, airworthiness, and cybersecurity by interrogating technical systems, driving hazard analyses, and ensuring requirements are implemented correctly. This role will be critical to assuring the safe development of the platform in alignment with the high standards of Shield AI.

You will collaborate closely with the System-Safety /Airworthiness Lead, Systems Engineering, and technical Responsible Engineers to maintain the safety baseline and Hazard Tracking System for X-BAT. This role is well suited for an engineer who enjoys analytical safety work, can adjust to the speed of innovation, thrives in cross-disciplinary technical environments, and takes ownership in driving system-level safety decisions.

• Work with System-Safety / Airworthiness Lead to derive, refine, and validate safety requirements for the X-BAT platform and support systems.
• Apply system safety engineering methods (e.g. STPA, SSA, FTA, PHA, FMEA) to analyze subsystems, interfaces, and integrated architectures, identifying hazards and mitigation strategies.
• Guide engineering teams in allocating safety requirements and verifying mitigation effectiveness.
• Support development of the safety case and certification evidence for X-BAT.
• Partner with cybersecurity specialists to develop and validate cybersecurity related safety requirements.
• Collaborate with Systems Engineering to audit, refine, and assure the X-BAT Hazard Tracking System, ensuring accuracy, traceability, and closure of hazards.
• Assist in creating, reviewing, and maintaining airworthiness and technical safety documentation for X-BAT.
• Support mishap and near miss investigations for the X-BAT platform, providing technical system-level context.
• Participate in design reviews, safety working groups, and change boards to ensure safety considerations are integrated early in the design lifecycle.
• Contribute to risk assessments and support readiness reviews for test, integration, and operational events.
• Direct engagement with Customer and DoD System Safety representatives and alignment of systems, expectations and analysis.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (systems, aerospace, electrical, mechanical, or related field).
• 5–8+ years of experience in system safety, airworthiness, or mission-critical system engineering.
• Experience generating or maintaining hazard logs (HTS/Hazard Tracking Systems).
• Working knowledge of system safety processes and hazard analysis tools.
• Familiarity with requirements management and hazard tracking systems.
• Strong analytical and technical communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Ability to possess a Secret DoD security clearance as required by customers.

• Prior experience with UAS or autonomous aircraft platforms.
• Experience with MIL-STD-882, ARP-4761, STANAG safety frameworks, or similar.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity requirements for safety-critical systems.
• Experience generating or maintaining hazard logs (HTS/Hazard Tracking Systems).
• Experience working in fast-paced development or prototyping environments.

$175,000 - $260,000 a year

* Compensation for this role is based on the position’s work location. The salary range shown reflects the listed location and may vary if the position is based in a different geographic market. Actual compensation will also consider factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and internal equity.

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Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.