# Senior Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4814)

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** Dallas, TX
**Role:** Embedded Engineering
**Salary:** $160k – $240k/yr
**Experience:** 5+ years
**Skills:** C++, MATLAB, Simulink, Python, 6Dof Simulation, Gnc, Flight Controls, Control Law Design, Monte Carlo Analysis, Hil, CI/CD, DevSecOps, Linux, Git, Npss
**Posted:** 2026-04-15

> Designs and implements flight control laws for X-BAT across all flight phases, builds high-fidelity 6DOF simulations, performs verification including Monte Carlo and HIL testing, supports flight operations, and integrates with cross-functional teams. Requires 5+ years in flight controls/GNC on real vehicles and proficiency in C++, MATLAB/Simulink, Python.

## Job Description

## What you'll do
- Design and implement flight control laws and supporting logic across multiple flight regimes.
- Build and mature high-fidelity 6DOF simulation environments used for control development and ensure accurate pre-flight performance predictions.
- Execute verification activities, including linear analysis, Monte Carlo campaigns, disturbance/sensitivity/degraded operation testing, and HIL validation.
- Diagnose and resolve simulation-to-test mismatches, including unidentified dynamics and modeling gaps.
- Support flight test operations and contribute to rapid iteration between flights.
- Work closely with propulsion, aero, actuation, sensors, state estimation, and autonomy teams to ensure accurate integrated system performance in the 6DOF simulation environment.

## Required qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in flight controls / GNC on real flight vehicles.
- Experience performing one or more of the following technical flight control assignments:
  - **Vehicle Modeling and Simulation**: Demonstrated experience implementing time-accurate mathematical models of the vehicle aerodynamics, mass properties, fuel system, propulsion system, sensors, actuators into a 6DOF simulation environment.
  - **Control Law Design**: Demonstrated experience designing inner and outer loop control laws for fixed-wing aircraft using classical or modern control techniques.
  - **Control Allocation**: Demonstrated experience designing control allocation algorithms for over-actuated systems handling actuator saturation, rate limits, failures and degradation.
  - **Guidance and Autonomy Integration**: Demonstrated experience designing and testing real-time trajectory generation algorithms.
  - **Verification and Validation**: Demonstrated experience executing linear, nonlinear, and Monte Carlo Analyses in a 6DOF simulation environment. Demonstrated experience executing sensitivity studies, worst-case disturbance analysis, and/or failure detection and accommodation studies validating control robustness against requirements. Demonstrated experience characterizing aircraft flying qualities against tailored MIL-HDBK-516 Section 6 requirements within a high-fidelity 6DOF Simulation framework. Demonstrated experience in generating flight control and simulation data artifacts for Airworthiness Certification (Simulation Description Document, Flying Qualities Report).
  - **Flight Test Support**: Demonstrated experience in test planning, envelope expansion strategy, and test point selection.
  - **Post-Flight Analysis**: Demonstrated experience analyzing flight data, comparing predicted vs actual behavior, performing system identification and model refinement tasks, and implementing control design or simulation model updates.
- Strong background in aircraft flight dynamics and 6DOF simulation.
- Proficiency in **C++**, **MATLAB/Simulink**, and/or **Python**.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

## Preferred qualifications
- Autonomous systems or missile/UAV GNC background.
- Familiarity with sensor and air data systems, **CI/CD pipelines** and modern **DevSecOps** practices.
- Experience integrating **NPSS** propulsion models (transient and steady state) into a 6DOF simulation environment.
- Experience with **HIL** or integrated simulation/test environments and **Linux**-based development workflows (**Git**, etc.).
- Experience operating in rapid development environments with tight iteration loops between simulation and test.

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