Shield AI · 2 weeks ago
Chief Engineer - Launch & Recovery Vehicle (R4033)
San Diego, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$224K/yr - $336K/yr
10+ years expShield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company focused on protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. The Chief Engineer for the Launch & Recovery Vehicle will lead the technical development and validation of a mobile launch and recovery system, ensuring it meets mission performance, reliability, and safety objectives through rigorous engineering and testing.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Autonomous VehiclesDronesMachine LearningNational Security
Responsibilities
Own the technical direction and ensure the product architecture fulfills mission needs and system constraints
Translate user and stakeholder requirements into verifiable system capabilities with defined margins and measures
Lead cross-discipline integration, ensuring mechanical, electrical, software, and test teams deliver a coherent design
Drive risk reduction and test strategy—plan, prioritize, and execute early demos and stress-to-failure tests
Maintain the functional baseline and verify that each subsystem meets its allocated performance and interface requirements
Guide trade studies balancing performance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and reliability
Ensure analytical models are correlated to test data, closing the loop between simulation and experiment
Control the technical baseline and configuration, approving major design and requirement changes
Chair or support technical reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR) and enforce closure of open actions
Own the risk register, quantify technical and programmatic risk, and ensure mitigation plans are executable and tracked
Serve as the single point of technical accountability to leadership and customers
Define and maintain verification and validation (V&V) plans that trace requirements to tests and results
Communicate technical status using transparent, quantitative metrics on performance, maturity, and uncertainty
Integrate product development with manufacturing and sustainment to ensure designs are buildable and supportable
Foster a disciplined, data-driven engineering culture that values early learning, iteration, and truth-seeking
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Physics, or related field (Mechanical/Aerospace ideal)
10+ years leading multidisciplinary engineering teams delivering complex electro-mechanical or automation systems
Proven record of owning system performance from requirements through test and field validation
Strong systems engineering discipline — requirements traceability, margins, and verification planning
Skilled in risk-based decision-making and tradeoffs across performance, cost, and schedule
Broad technical fluency across mechanical, electrical, software, and controls domains
Experience managing product lifecycle: design, build, integration, and test
Comfortable leading technical reviews (PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR) and closing actions to standard
Effective at cross-functional coordination with manufacturing, test, and operations
Clear communicator — able to translate technical reality to executive and customer audiences
Benefits
Bonus
Benefits
Equity
Temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
Company
Shield AI
Shield AI is a deep-tech company that focuses on developing AI-powered systems to enhance the safety of service members and civilians.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Shield AI has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (3)
2024 (3)
2021 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$1.31BKey Investors
Hercules CapitalUS Innovative Technology FundSnowpoint Ventures
2025-03-06Series F· $240M
2023-12-29Debt Financing· $200M
2023-10-31Series F· $300M
Leadership Team
Gary Steele
Chief Executive Officer
Brandon Tseng
Co-Founder
Recent News
Washington Technology
2026-01-11
Company data provided by crunchbase