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Staff Engineer, Reliability Test (R5532)

Shield AI · Seattle, WA

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Level
Senior
Team
Reliability
Degree
Required
Experience asked
2+ years
Industry
Aerospace & defense
Posted
30+ days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A senior reliability role at Shield AI (aerospace & defense) in Seattle, WA. Review test data in real time, make the call when something looks wrong (pause, adjust, or continue), and lead the investigation when hardware fails.

They ask for
2+ years · degree required
Tools it names
Root cause, Automation, Tooling, SolidWorks, CATIA / NX

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Reliability Engineer roles in Washington: typical posted base $105k–$145k.

Median of the low and high ends of 11 live postings that list pay, out of 18 reliability engineer openings in Washington, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

Washington plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 17 other live reliability postings in Washington.

Base pay
Not listed in this posting

Typical $105k–$145k, from 11 postings that list pay.

Experience asked
Less than usual (2+ vs 3+)

Similar roles usually ask 3+ years.

Skills these teams ask for most

  • ✓ Python 61%
  • ✓ Root cause 50%
  • ✓ Automation 50%
  • FMEA 28%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

Stands out: this posting asks for CATIA / NX, which few similar roles mention. If you have it, lead with it.

It asks for 2+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 people on the Reliability team at Shield AI

    We found 7 people at this company and state: 2 in this kind of role, 5 leaders. Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. See them ↓

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.

    Write to Michael → (free)
  3. 3

    Turn a reply into a short call

    Questions worth asking about this team:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply with someone vouching for you

    If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Shield AI in Seattle

16 other open roles at this site · 7 people we found in reliability roles at Shield AI.

All 17 roles at Shield AI →
Full description from Shield AIAs posted on their careers site.Show

requirements

into executable test plans: stress profiles, verification matrices, fixture designs, instrumentation and data acquisition requirements, and pass/fail criteria. You'll write the procedures our environmental test technicians execute, and you'll keep several campaigns planned, sequenced, and on schedule at once.

Once tests are running, you're the engineering authority on the floor. You'll review test data in real time, make the call when something looks wrong (pause, adjust, or continue), and lead the investigation when hardware fails. You'll analyze results and write the reports and visualizations stakeholders rely on to make disposition and qualification decisions, then feed what you learn back into design and future test plans. You'll work with cutting-edge deep-tech hardware, collaborate across disciplines, and directly influence product quality and long-term reliability over the vehicles' lifecycles.

What You'll Do

  • ◆Translate design requirements, mission profiles, and industry standards into environmental test plans, including stress profiles, sample sizes, verification matrices, instrumentation maps, and pass/fail criteria.
  • ◆Write and maintain the test procedures and work instructions technicians use to set up, execute, and tear down tests.
  • ◆Design test fixtures in CAD and verify they are dynamically suitable for vibration and shock testing.
  • ◆Define instrumentation and data acquisition requirements, and develop automated tools for data acquisition, reduction, and plotting.
  • ◆Provide real-time engineering support during test execution: review live data, disposition anomalies and test interruptions, and authorize profile changes or test stops.
  • ◆Lead investigations of test failures and anomalies, partnering with failure analysis and design engineers to drive root cause and corrective action.
  • ◆Analyze test data and author test reports that support disposition, qualification, and acceptance decisions.
  • ◆Plan and prioritize the test schedule across concurrent campaigns, balancing program needs against lab capacity.
  • ◆Define lab capability needs, including equipment, test methods, and capacity, and manage external laboratories when testing exceeds in-house capability.
  • ◆Educate stakeholders on environmental test best practices to improve test plans and design-for-test practices.

Required Qualifications

  • ✓Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Reliability Engineering, or related field.
  • ✓2+ years of experience planning and conducting environmental tests, including temperature cycling, vibration, shock, highly accelerated limit testing (HALT), and highly accelerated stress screening (HASS).
  • ✓Experience writing test plans, procedures, and reports for hardware qualification or acceptance.
  • ✓Working knowledge of relevant industry test standards, including MIL-STD-810, RTCA DO-160, IPC, JEDEC, and ASTM.
  • ✓Knowledge of electronics failure mechanisms, including solder fatigue, intermetallic growth, conductive anodic filaments, tin whiskers, electromigration, and corrosion, and how environmental stresses accelerate them.
  • ✓Proficiency in CAD modelling software, including ANSYS SpaceClaim, NX, or Solidworks.
  • ✓Experience specifying instrumentation and data acquisition (thermocouples, accelerometers, humidity sensors, strain gauges) and analyzing the resulting data.
  • ✓Self-starter with a growth mindset and sound judgment when making real-time decisions with incomplete information.
  • ✓Clear, concise written and oral communication, including the ability to present results and recommendations to design and hardware test teams.

Preferred Qualifications

  • ✓5+ years of experience in a reliability or environmental test engineering role.
  • ✓Familiarity with reliability concepts, including Weibull statistics, accelerated life test design, and acceleration models (e.g., Coffin-Manson, Arrhenius, Peck).
  • ✓Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Reliability Engineering.
  • ✓Proficiency in FEA modelling software, including ANSYS Mechanical, Siemens Simcenter, or Abaqus, including modal analysis of test fixtures.
  • ✓Proficiency in Python, including NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, Plotly, and Matplotlib, for data reduction and test automation.
  • ✓Experience leading interdisciplinary technical projects from concept to production.
  • ✓Experience standing up a new environmental test capability.
  • ✓Familiarity with PCB fabrication, SMT, and polymerics application manufacturing processes.
Show full description ↓

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.

As a Reliability Test Engineer at Shield AI, you'll own the engineering behind environmental testing of electronic flight hardware for the XBAT aircraft, including thermal, vibration, shock, humidity, altitude, HALT, and HASS testing. Working with design, reliability, and program stakeholders, you'll turn

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