
Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer (R5009)
Shield AI
Wichita, United States · Full time employee · Test, Safety & Quality
Job Description: Shield AI is seeking a highly capable Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer to support the development, integration, and execution of instrumentation systems for X-BAT, the world’s first autonomous VTOL jet aircraft.
Apply on Shield AI’s careers page- Company
- Shield AI
- Location
- Wichita, United States
- Workplace
- On-site
- Type
- Full time employee
- Specialism
- Test, Safety & Quality
- Team
- Flight Test X-BAT
- Salary
- $150K–$230K
- Posted
- 16 May 2026
About the role
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: Shield AI is seeking a highly capable Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer to support the development, integration, and execution of instrumentation systems for X-BAT, the world’s first autonomous VTOL jet aircraft. In this role, you will design, install, validate, and maintain data acquisition systems essential to aircraft-level testing, safety, and mission success. The Flight Test Instrumentation Engineer is responsible for ensuring high-quality, reliable data capture across propulsion, structural, avionics, and autonomy systems. This engineer works closely with Flight Test, Systems Engineering, Avionics, Autonomy, and Safety teams to ensure instrumentation supports rigorous test objectives and enables rapid, data-driven iteration. This is a hands-on, field-focused role that requires strong technical depth, disciplined execution, and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic test environment.