Director, Test Engineering - ACP Programs (R5044)

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.

What you'll do:: Act as Test Director and technical lead for integration and flight test of Hivemind autonomy on group 5 ACP systems, including multi-aircraft coordination scenarios in LVC and empirical flight test scenarios. Own test strategy and execution across the full development lifecycle, including system-level verification & validation, test phasing, and prioritization across SIL, HIL, simulation, ground, and flight test environments Plan and execute large-scale flight test campaigns, including complex mission scenarios involving cooperative autonomy, human-machine teaming, and distributed systems Serve as the final authority during mission autonomy test operations, directing test conduct and approving test plans, procedures, and execution flow Coordinate cross-functional execution across software, hardware, systems engineering, flight operations, safety, and program leadership teams Define mission-level performance metrics and success criteria, ensuring traceability from requirements to test outcomes and operational effectiveness Own test infrastructure strategy, including large-scale simulation environments, SIL/HIL systems, aircraft integration labs, and flight test assets Lead on-aircraft integration and flight test operations with platform OEM partners, including system configuration, software deployment, real-time troubleshooting, and post-flight data analysis Serve as primary coordinator working with platform OEMs to define and enforce test readiness criteria (entry/exit), define safety-of-flight and mission risk management, airspace coordination and test hazard identification, analysis, and mitigation to ultimately make go/no-go decisions for progression into ground and flight test events Establish and scale test processes, standards, and best practices aligned with DoD DT&E/OT&E expectations and operational test rigor Required qualifications:: Typically requires 15+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 14+ years with a Master’s; or 12+ y