{"id":2798780,"url":"https://alion.io/job/shield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305","title":"Flight Test Engineer, Staff (R6305)","company":{"id":50,"name":"Shield AI","domain":"shield.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/shield-ai","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Lever","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":74,"open_postings":76,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.842,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":69,"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"}},"role":"Aerospace","role_family":"Aerospace","seniority":"staff","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Wichita, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":120000,"max":190000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":190000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-18T00:27:43Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-18","last_verified_at":"2026-10-24T17:09:00Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"Job Description:\nShield AI is seeking an highly motivated and experienced Flight Test Engineer to develop, plan, execute, and analyze ground and flight test operations for a fast-paced next gen aircraft system. You will work closely across several segment owners of engineering, operations, autonomy, systems integration, product support, manufacturing, and customers.\nWhat you'll do:\nDevelop, publish, and execute comprehensive flight test plans, procedures, cards, risk assessments, safety, and readiness reviews\nSupport integration and test of aircraft systems, payloads, comms/data links, software, ground control systems, and mission equipment\nLead and coordinate pre-flight, flight, and post-flight activities, including system configuration, instrumentation, telemetry, data collection and test reports\nAnalyze ground and flight test data to identify performance trends, anomalies, root causes, and corrective actions\nCoordinate with engineering teams to validate requirements, troubleshoot issues, and mature system capabilities\nLead or participate in test range operations, safety briefings, go/no-go decisions, and test setup and logistics\nDocument test results, lessons learned, anomalies, and recommendations in clear technical reports\nSupport aircraft maintenance, configuration control, and system readiness\nCreate and improve flight test processes, tools, data workflows, and operational efficiency\nCreate and maintain ground and air operating limitations requirements\nTravel to test sites, customer locations, and field exercises as required\nRequired qualifications:\nBachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM Degree)\n8+ years of experience with developmental and/or operational ground and flight test, unmanned/manned aircraft systems, aircraft integration, or aerospace systems engineering\nStrong understanding of aircraft systems, flight dynamics, avionics, telemetry, sensors, or control systems\nProven ability to write and execute structured test plans, procedures, and reports\nStrong troubleshooting skills in field and/or lab environments\nExcellent communication skills and ability to work across engineering and operations teams\nWillingness to travel and work outdoors, fields, or test range environments\nOvertime and weekend coverage as required\nU.S. Citizenship Only with In-Scope active Secret clearance required to start\nPreferred qualifications:\n2+ years of experience with developmental and/or operational ground and flight test, unmanned aircraft systems, aircraft integration, or aerospace systems engineering\nExperience in Group 4-5 UAS and/or fighter type capability or similar weapons systems\nFamiliarity with FAA, DoW, and test range flight operations\nExperience with autonomy, navigation, mission planning, and Command-and-Control (C2) systems\nHands-on experience with aircraft maintenance, avionics integration, payload integration, and ground support equipment\nExperience with telemetry systems, flight and data logs, sensor data, datalinks, and RF systems\nPart 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or crewed aviation experience\nProven Mission Control Room experience using Integrated Analysis & Data System (IADS) or similar development FTI display system\nExperience leading or supporting developmental flight test campaigns from design through planning and execution to include reporting\nIdeal candidate:\nThe ideal candidate is practical, detail-oriented engineer who is comfortable in control rooms, hangar/maintenance areas, solving complex problems, taking ownership, rapid decision-making, and hands-on engineering concept environments. You can write a detailed test plan, troubleshoot hardware and software at a test site, analyze flight data, and communicate clearly under operational pressure. You are safety-minded, have high technical acumen, and motivated by building and validating advanced and complex aircraft systems to field to the operators quickly.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3923,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military Drones","Defense Manufacturing","Defense AI","Drone AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-18T01:43:11Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 2","filings_12m":2,"filings_prev_12m":2,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":132500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":6,"expected_fill_days":69,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":190000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/shield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/shield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T17:44:08Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":25839,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":50},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=50"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fshield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fshield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fshield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/shield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fshield-ai-staff-engineer-flight-test-r6305"}]}