Senior Engineer, Flight Test (R6304)
Wichita Metro Area · USD 100,000-160,000 / year · 5+ years experience · Onsite · Posted Oct 18, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 5+ years experience
- Workplace
- Onsite
- Location
- Wichita Metro Area
- Salary
- USD 100,000-160,000 / year
About the role
- Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer, Flight Test to develop, publish, and execute comprehensive flight test plans, procedures, cards, risk assessments, safety, and readiness reviews.
- The ideal candidate is a practical, detail-oriented engineer comfortable in control rooms, hangar/maintenance areas, solving complex problems, taking ownership, and working in hands-on engineering concept environments.
Responsibilities
- Develop, publish, and execute comprehensive flight test plans, procedures, cards, risk assessments, safety, and readiness reviews
- Support integration and test of aircraft systems, payloads, comms/data links, software, ground control systems, and mission equipment
- Lead and coordinate pre-flight, flight, and post-flight activities, including system configuration, instrumentation, telemetry, data collection and test reports
- Analyze ground and flight test data to identify performance trends, anomalies, root causes, and corrective actions
- Coordinate with engineering teams to validate requirements, troubleshoot issues, and mature system capabilities
- Lead or participate in test range operations, safety briefings, go/no-go decisions, and test setup and logistics
- Document test results, lessons learned, anomalies, and recommendations in clear technical reports
- Support aircraft maintenance, configuration control, and system readiness
- Create and improve flight test processes, tools, data workflows, and operational efficiency
- Create and maintain ground and air operating limitations requirements
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math (STEM Degree)
- 5+ years of experience with developmental and/or operational ground and flight test, unmanned/manned aircraft systems, aircraft integration, or aerospace systems engineering
- Strong understanding of aircraft systems, flight dynamics, avionics, telemetry, sensors, or control systems
- Proven ability to write and execute structured test plans, procedures, and reports
- Strong troubleshooting skills in field and/or lab environments
- Excellent communication skills and ability to work across engineering and operations teams
- Willingness to travel and work outdoors, fields, or test range environments
- Overtime and weekend coverage as required
- U.S. Citizenship Only with In-Scope active Secret clearance required to start
Preferred qualifications
- 8+ years of experience with developmental and/or operational ground and flight test, unmanned aircraft systems, aircraft integration, or aerospace systems engineering
- Experience in Group 4-5 UAS and/or fighter type capability or similar weapons systems
- Familiarity with FAA, DoW, and test range flight operations
- Experience with autonomy, navigation, mission planning, and Command-and-Control (C2) systems
- Hands-on experience with aircraft maintenance, avionics integration, payload integration, and ground support equipment
- Experience with telemetry systems, flight and data logs, sensor data, datalinks, and RF systems
- Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or crewed aviation experience
- Proven Mission Control Room experience using Integrated Analysis & Data System (IADS) or similar development FTI display system
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity
- temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment for temporary employees)
Workplace
- Travel to test sites, customer locations, and field exercises as required
Skills
- Aircraft Integration
- Aerospace Systems Engineering
- Telemetry
- Avionics
- RF Systems
- IADS
