Staff Engineer, Operational Safety Specialist (R6049)

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI's technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

The Operational Safety Specialist will help build the operational safety framework required to move a next-generation autonomous aircraft from development and flight test into safe, repeatable field operations. This full-time role combines hands-on operational support with disciplined documentation, readiness assessment, and program development. The specialist will translate technical risk decisions into clear policies, procedures, safety evidence, and emergency response capabilities for demanding environments.

You will work closely with Airworthiness, System Safety, Flight Test, Engineering, Ground Operations, Security, Facilities, and Program leadership to identify operational hazards, maintain safety documentation, and close readiness gaps. This role is ideal for an aviation safety professional who can move between the flightline and the written safety baseline, manage multiple priorities, and build practical processes that keep pace with a rapidly evolving aircraft program.

What you'll do:

• Develop, implement, and maintain operational safety policies, standards, and procedures for X-BAT flight, ground, maintenance, test, and field activities.
• Support the Airworthiness team in creating, reviewing, controlling, and maintaining documentation and objective evidence used for airworthiness and readiness decisions.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of safety cases for all aircraft, including traceability among hazards, operational mitigations, procedures, training, and verification evidence.
• Maintain the Operational Risk Registry and conduct risk assessments for flight test, engine runs, ground operations, launch and recovery, maintenance, and field deployments.
• Support safety reviews, test and operational readiness reviews, fielding assessments, and approval activities by ensuring required artifacts are complete, current, and available to decision-makers and operators.
• Build and maintain Emergency Response Program readiness for X-BAT, including plans, notification protocols, roles, checklists, site coordination, training, exercises, and corrective actions.
• Conduct audits and field observations to assess compliance with approved procedures, identify process drift, and verify that corrective actions are effective.
• Lead or support mishap, near-miss, and emergency-event investigations, including evidence collection, root-cause analysis, reporting, and corrective-action follow-through.
• Develop safety metrics and readiness indicators, and support customer and government safety engagements, documentation requests, and reporting obligations.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in safety, aviation, engineering, emergency management, or a related discipline (or equivalent operational experience).
• 3-5+ years of experience in aviation safety, flight or test operations, UAS operations, military aviation, safety management systems, or emergency response.
• Experience developing or reviewing operational policies, procedures, risk assessments, readiness documentation, or emergency response plans.
• Working knowledge of safety management systems, operational risk management, mishap investigation, corrective action, and emergency preparedness principles.
• Strong technical writing, document-control, and analytical skills, with the ability to turn complex inputs into clear, usable operational products.
• Ability to work effectively across engineering and operational teams, support flightline and test-site activities, travel as needed, and work non-standard hours when operations require it.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience supporting UAS, autonomous aircraft, military aviation, or developmental flight-test programs.
• Experience supporting airworthiness documentation, safety cases, certification evidence, or operational approval packages.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD-882, DCMA 8210.1, FAA or ICAO safety management frameworks, or similar aviation safety standards.
• Experience developing or exercising aviation emergency response plans, incident command procedures, or emergency operations programs.
• Formal training in mishap investigation, root-cause analysis, human factors, emergency management, or safety auditing.
• Active or eligible security clearance.

$120,000 - $180,000 a year

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Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.