← All jobs
Shield AI

Senior Manager, Avionics Mechanical Engineering (R4416)

Seattle, Washington
Salary
USD 220,000 - 330,000 / per-year-salary
Level
Lead
Work type
On-site · Seattle

Not stated in the posting: visa.

Open. First seen 22 October 2026.

About the role

Shield AI's standard text

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.

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Manager of Mechanical Engineering to build and lead the team responsible for all mechanical design, thermal, and harnessing in the X-BAT aircraft and ground vehicle. You will establish the technical vision, hire top tier engineers, and partner with all other engineer team leads to execute cross-functionally. Extreme ownership is expected where your team will carry designs from concept through manufacturing. Team leads and managers at Shield are expected to have strong technical fundamentals and a history of experience being hands on.

What you'll do:

  • Lead the team responsible for the architecture and design for all mechanical, thermal, and EWIS elements of ground and flight avionics on the X-BAT program
  • Take ownership of a small team of thermal, mechanical, and EWIS engineers, establish leads and sub-managers, and grow the team to support program goals in the immediate and long term
  • While you will not be expected to design as an individual contributor, you must have this experience in your past to establish what "right" looks like for your organization
  • Develop standards and processes for thermal and mechanical engineering of critical avionics hardware
  • Partner closely with electrical engineering, RF, PCB design, reliability, supply chain, structures, manufacturing and other disciplines to drive full scope product delivery
  • Own your team's output of complex electro-mechanical solutions for flight critical avionics systems that withstand harsh environments

Required qualifications:

  • B.S. in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering
  • 10+ years of experience in mechanical design around electronics and electrical systems
  • Strong experience in CAD software (NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, or similar) for 3D modeling, drawing creation, and system layout
  • Experience working with electrical engineers to develop avionics packaging
  • Experience with finite element analysis (FEA), thermal analysis, and fatigue/lifecycle testing
  • Experience working directly with fabrication shops, contract manufacturers, and suppliers
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced, agile development environment with evolving priorities
  • A demonstrated record of working hard, being trustworthy, holding yourself to high standards, and being kind to others
  • Ability to obtain a Secret level security clearance

#LI-JM2

#LE

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.

Shield AI's standard text

###

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.

What this role asks for

77% of this description is written for the role. The rest is Shield AI's standard text, folded away below.

Compared with Shield AI's other open jobs.

The team: RaptorX Engineering - Avionics HIRES STEADILY

This role is one of 5 open in RaptorX Engineering - Avionics. 3 were posted in the last 30 days and the oldest in December: a team that hires all year rather than one being built.

WHAT THE TEAM WORKS WITH, ACROSS ITS POSTINGS

PCB Design (4 of 5), Altium (3 of 5), Agile (2 of 5), CATIA (2 of 5), FEA (2 of 5), SolidWorks (2 of 5)

OTHER ROLES ON THIS TEAM

From the team and dates on Shield AI's own job board.

Similar jobs

Is this your posting? Email info@careerholo.com to have it removed.