Staff Engineer, Fluid and Mechanical Systems (RX) (R6000)
Dallas · USD 142,880-214,320 / year · Onsite · Posted Sep 22, 2026
At a glance
- Workplace
- Onsite
- Location
- Dallas
- Salary
- USD 142,880-214,320 / year
About the role
- As a Staff (L4) Fluid and Mechanical Systems Engineer at Shield AI, you will be a hands-on multi-disciplinary owner of fluid-system layouts, thermal transport hardware, and adjacent mechanical design for a Group 5 UAV fighter aircraft.
- You will apply first-principles engineering to develop ram-air circuits, liquid cooling systems, ECS/TMS fluid architecture, and supporting mechanical installations that are buildable, maintainable, and ready for vehicle integration.
Responsibilities
- Develop and mature aircraft fluid system layouts for ram-air circuits, liquid cooling loops, ECS/TMS fluid circuits, and hydraulic distribution as applicable, including routing, packaging, and installation concepts.
- Perform pressure-drop, flow-balance, pump and reservoir sizing, and thermal-transport capacity calculations to establish system performance and hardware requirements.
- Build and maintain fluid and thermal system models using Flowmaster, AMESim, GFSSP, or equivalent tools to support design decisions, trade assessments, and requirements verification.
- Design supporting mechanical hardware, brackets, mounts, line supports, and installation provisions; perform tolerance analysis, clearance assessments, hand calculations, and basic FEA as needed.
- Select and specify pumps, valves, heat exchangers, accumulators, filters, lines, fittings, actuators, and associated hardware for fluid and actuated system installations.
- Resolve interfaces with structures, EWIS, thermal management, electrical power, and adjacent mechanical systems, including routing, maintainability, and installation-clearance requirements.
- Support failure mode analysis, contamination control, leak prevention, and system-level redundancy definition for assigned fluid and actuated systems.
- Support component sourcing, technical specifications, supplier technical execution, prototype assembly, and test-fixture development.
- Define and execute qualification test plans per MIL-STD-810, using results to mature the design into production-ready hardware and support MIL-HDBK-516 Airworthiness Certification.
Requirements
- US Citizens Only & Must have an Active Secret or higher clearance.
- 7 to 12 years of fluid systems design, thermal systems analysis, or mechanical systems installation experience in aerospace or a comparable regulated industry.
- B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- Deep mastery of thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, mechanical design fundamentals, and tolerance stack-up methodologies.
- Demonstrated capability with fluid system sizing and analysis, including pressure drop, flow networks, heat transfer, and 1D fluid or thermal system modeling.
- Demonstrated ability to create fluid-system layouts and mechanical installations that satisfy routing, packaging, maintainability, structural-interface, and vehicle-integration requirements.
- Experience in 3D CAD modeling, routing, layouts, and drawing release with Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, SolidWorks, or equivalent PLM workflows.
- Hands-on capability designing brackets, mounts, supports, and installation hardware using hand calculations, tolerance analysis, and basic structural analysis.
- Proven track record sourcing COTS/custom aerospace components, driving suppliers to schedule, and assembling benchtop or vehicle-level test setups.
- Demonstrated ability to self-direct, prioritize technical tasks without oversight, and deliver functional hardware under tight timelines.
Preferred qualifications
- Aircraft ram-air, liquid cooling, hydraulic, fuel, or thermal transport loop design experience.
- ECS or thermal management system design and integration experience.
- Experience with electro-mechanical or electro-hydrostatic actuation systems and associated mechanical installations.
- Familiarity with MIL-STD-810, MIL-HDBK-516, and airworthiness verification planning for fluid and mechanical systems.
- Hands-on prototype-build, fabrication, or mechanical assembly experience in a rapid R&D environment.
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity
Skills
- Flowmaster
- AMESim
- GFSSP
- Siemens NX
- CATIA
- Creo
- SolidWorks
- Thermodynamics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Heat Transfer
- Mechanical Design
- Tolerance Analysis
Show all 15 skills
- FEA
- CAD
- PLM
