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

Job Description: The Operational Safety Specialist plays a central role in strengthening both proactive and reactive safety programs across Shield AI’s flight operations and ground environments. This position focuses on the execution and continuous improvement of auditing, safety metrics, investigations, and safety promotion activities spanning multiple aircraft programs. The role is instrumental in preparing Shield AI’s safety programs for global scale and growth.  You will work closely with Flight Safety, Ground Operations, Airworthiness, Engineering, EH&S, and Program teams to ensure operational hazards are identified early, tracked effectively, and addressed through closure. This position is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment; is detail-oriented; and brings strong analytical and communication skills to support the development of a world-class safety culture. 

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 …