Senior Engineer, Reliability (R5950)

Seattle · San Diego · Dallas · USD 110,000-210,000 / year · 5+ years experience · Onsite · Posted Sep 24, 2026

At a glance

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Reliability Engineer to lead reliability engineering activities for the development, integration, testing, and operation of aircraft systems.
This position works across engineering disciplines to establish reliability requirements, manage system reliability budgets, perform reliability analyses, and identify design improvements that increase aircraft availability and mission success.
The engineer serves as the primary reliability point of contact for assigned programs and communicates reliability performance, risks, and improvement plans to engineering leadership and customers.

Develop and maintain aircraft-level reliability requirements, objectives, and program reliability plans.
Establish, allocate, and manage reliability budgets across systems, subsystems, and line-replaceable units.
Track predicted reliability against program targets and identify components or subsystems driving reliability risk.
Perform reliability predictions using component failure-rate data, operating environments, and mission profiles.
Conduct Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) analysis.
Support aircraft system safety assessments by providing failure rates, failure modes, and reliability data.
Develop and maintain Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Mean Time Between Critical Failure (MTBCF), mission reliability, availability, and related reliability metrics.
Perform reliability allocation, trade studies, sensitivity analyses, and design assessments.
Lead or support Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) activities.
Analyze ground-test, flight-test, supplier, maintenance, and field-performance data to identify reliability trends.

Bachelor’s degree in reliability engineering, systems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field.
Direct experience supporting aircraft development, integration, testing, sustainment, or operations.
Experience developing and managing reliability budgets at the system, subsystem, or equipment level.
Proficiency with reliability methods such as FMEA/FMECA, FTA, RBD, Weibull analysis, reliability predictions, and FRACAS.
Familiarity with reliability metrics such as MTBF, MTBCF, failure rate, mission reliability, operational availability, and inherent availability.
Experience using reliability analysis tools such as ReliaSoft, Windchill Quality Solutions, Isograph, RAM Commander, or equivalent.
Ability to interpret aircraft mission profiles, operating environments, duty cycles, and test data.
Experience working with multidisciplinary engineering teams and suppliers.
Strong analytical, technical writing, presentation, and customer communication skills.
Ability to obtain and maintain any security clearance required for the program.

Experience working on military aircraft, unmanned aircraft, or other defense aerospace platforms.
Experience managing aircraft-level reliability allocations and flowing requirements down to suppliers.
Familiarity with MIL-HDBK-217, NPRD, EPRD, RIAC 217Plus, or equivalent reliability prediction methods and databases.
Experience integrating reliability engineering with system safety, maintainability, logistics, and availability analyses.
Knowledge of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) and condition-based maintenance approaches.
Experience supporting environmental qualification, ground testing, flight testing, or reliability growth testing.
Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering and requirements management tools.
Certified Reliability Engineer credentials or equivalent professional certification.

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