Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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 expanding the Avionics Engineering team to support development of the next-generation X-BAT aircraft. We are building a flight-critical, custom avionics system supporting compute, AI, power, communications, telemetry, and mission systems — and we need a highly hands-on Senior Electronics Lab Technician to support and maintain the lab environment that makes this work possible.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a structured lab setting — assembling, soldering, wiring, organizing, troubleshooting, and ensuring engineers have everything they need to move quickly. You will work side-by-side with electrical, mechanical, and software engineers to build, support, and maintain prototype avionics hardware in a fast-paced R&D environment.
This is a lab-centered role with strong emphasis on lab setup, organization, equipment management, and hands-on hardware support.
What you'll do:
Support lab setup, layout, organization, and ongoing infrastructure improvements
Manage equipment procurement, part ordering, and inventory for the avionics lab
Maintain calibration, traceability, and documentation for lab equipment
Assemble, modify, and deploy prototype PCBAs and avionics modules
Perform moderate PCB rework and fine-pitch soldering under microscope
Rework and modify boards to support engineering iteration
Build and modify wire harnesses and cable assemblies as needed
Support environmental testing (temperature, vibration, altitude, humidity) including instrumentation and setup
Operate oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, logic analyzers, and environmental chambers
Maintain detailed documentation of builds, lab procedures, and hardware modifications
Assist engineers in debugging and validating hardware in a structured, repeatable manner
Help establish and maintain lab best practices, organization standards, and safe operating procedures
Required qualifications:
2+ years of hands-on experience in an electrical hardware development or R&D lab
Strong ability to read and interpret electrical schematics and layouts
Experience operating lab equipment (oscilloscopes, DMMs, power supplies, environmental chambers, etc.)
Experience with PCB rework and component-level soldering
Comfortable disassembling and reassembling electronic assemblies
Experience working within a PLM system (Arena, Agile, or equivalent)
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
Ability to work independently and support multiple engineers simultaneously
Preferred qualifications:
Experience building and modifying wire harnesses and cable assemblies
Familiarity with PCB layout tools such as Altium (or similar)
Experience maintaining lab inventory and calibration systems
Familiarity with avionics, UAVs, or aerospace hardware
Comfort using mechanical shop tools and basic fabrication equipment
Experience supporting prototype manufacturing environments