Senior Engineer, Reliability (R5950)

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 www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

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. Apply Weibull analysis and other statistical methods to evaluate failure behavior and predict component life. Work with design teams to eliminate single-point failures, reduce high-risk failure modes, and improve fault tolerance. Review supplier reliability analyses, test results, and supporting technical data. Define reliability demonstration and growth-test requirements, success criteria, and data-collection needs. Support technical reviews, including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and reliability review boards. Communicate reliability performance, budget status, assumptions, risks, and recommended corrective actions to customers and program leadership. Mentor junior engineers and improve organizational reliability processes, tools, and standards.

Bachelor’s degree in reliability engineering, systems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical field. Typically seven or more years of relevant reliability, systems, or aerospace engineering experience. 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. Active U.S. security clearance.

The successful engineer will establish a clear aircraft reliability strategy, maintain ownership of the reliability budget, and provide program leadership with an accurate view of reliability performance and risk. They will use analysis and test data to identify the primary reliability drivers and work directly with engineering teams and suppliers to improve the design before failures affect aircraft availability or mission performance.

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