{"schemaVersion":"jobsearcher.job.v1","id":"abdc8bebf0d5d6c3fb63abd6","url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/abdc8bebf0d5d6c3fb63abd6","canonicalUrl":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/abdc8bebf0d5d6c3fb63abd6","title":"Principal Quality Engineer - Development Programs","description":"Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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.\n\nJob Description:\nThe Principal Quality Engineer serves as the senior technical quality authority for a complex aerospace development program. This role is responsible for establishing and driving quality engineering strategies that ensure products are designed, developed, tested, and transitioned to production with the highest levels of safety, reliability, manufacturability, and mission effectiveness.\n\nThe Principal Quality Engineer partners closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Flight Test, and Program Management to identify technical risks, drive root cause investigations, improve product reliability, and ensure quality is designed into the product from inception through production readiness.\n\nAs the most senior individual contributor within the quality organization, this role provides technical leadership across development programs and serves as a key advisor to engineering and executive leadership on quality and reliability matters.\n\nWhat you’ll do:\nDevelopment Quality Leadership\n\nServe as the lead quality engineering representative on a major aerospace development program.\n\nEstablish quality engineering strategies and methodologies throughout the product development lifecycle.\n\nEnsure quality requirements are incorporated into system architecture, design, verification, validation, and production planning activities.\n\nDrive quality integration within cross-functional engineering teams.\n\nProvide technical leadership for complex quality and reliability challenges.\n\nDesign Quality & Product Development\n\nParticipate in system requirements reviews, design reviews, and technical readiness reviews.\n\nAssess product designs for quality, manufacturability, inspectability, maintainability, and reliability.\n\nIdentify and mitigate technical risks associated with design maturity and product performance.\n\nEvaluate engineering changes and configuration modifications for quality impact.\n\nChampion Design for Quality (DFQ), Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and Design for Reliability (DFR) principles.\n\nFailure Analysis & Root Cause Investigation\n\nLead investigations of the program’s most complex failures and quality escapes.\n\nApply advanced root cause methodologies to identify systemic causes of defects and failures.\n\nFacilitate cross-functional corrective action teams.\n\nDrive closure and effectiveness verification of corrective actions.\n\nMentor engineering teams in structured problem-solving techniques.\n\nReliability & Risk Management\n\nDevelop reliability growth strategies and quality metrics for development programs.\n\nSupport implementation and execution of FRACAS processes.\n\nAnalyze failure trends, test results, field data, and operational performance.\n\nIdentify emerging risks before they impact program objectives.\n\nRecommend design, process, or operational improvements to improve product robustness.\n\nVerification, Validation & Test Quality\n\nDevelop quality engineering approaches for laboratory, environmental, ground, and flight testing.\n\nEnsure test anomalies, failures, and nonconformances are properly evaluated and resolved.\n\nSupport qualification and certification efforts.\n\nEvaluate test readiness and production readiness criteria.\n\nEnsure lessons learned are captured and incorporated into future designs.\n\nManufacturing & Production Readiness\n\nPartner with Manufacturing Engineering to develop scalable production processes.\n\nSupport development of inspection strategies, acceptance criteria, and process controls.\n\nEvaluate manufacturing capability and production risks during product maturation.\n\nEnsure development lessons learned are translated into production controls.\n\nSupport transition from prototype builds to low-rate and full-rate production.\n\nSupplier & Component Quality\n\nSupport supplier quality planning for critical components and technologies.\n\nEvaluate supplier quality risks associated with development hardware.\n\nParticipate in supplier investigations and corrective actions when required.\n\nDrive quality improvements across the supply base supporting the program.\n\nTechnical Leadership\n\nServe as a mentor and technical coach to Quality Engineers and cross-functional engineering teams.\n\nDevelop quality engineering standards, tools, and best practices.\n\nInfluence program decisions through technical expertise and data-driven analysis.\n\nLead special projects involving advanced quality engineering methodologies.\n\nAct as a trusted advisor to engineering and executive leadership.\n\nRequired qualifications:\n\nBachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline.\n\n12+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, aviation, space, or similarly complex engineered products.\n\nExtensive experience supporting new product development programs.\n\nDeep understanding of quality engineering principles and development lifecycles.\n\nDemonstrated success leading complex technical investigations and root cause analyses.\n\nExperience with reliability engineering, failure analysis, and risk management.\n\nStrong understanding of aerospace manufacturing processes and production transitions.\n\nWorking knowledge of AS9100 quality systems and aerospace regulatory requirements.\n\nExcellent communication and technical leadership skills.\n\nPreferred qualifications:\n\nAdvanced degree in Engineering, Systems Engineering, Reliability Engineering, or related field.\n\nExperience with UAVs, autonomous systems, aircraft development, or defense technologies.\n\nExperience supporting flight test programs and developmental testing.\n\nExpertise in FRACAS, FMEA, reliability growth, and statistical analysis techniques.\n\nASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) or equivalent certification.\n\nExperience supporting military or government aerospace programs.\n\n$170,000 - $260,000 a year\n\nFull-time regular employee offer package:\n\nPay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity\n\nTemporary employee offer package:\n\nPay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)\n\nSalary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.\n\nShield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed toequal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.\n\n#J-18808-Ljbffr","company":"Blackcube Labs","rawCompany":"blackcube labs","city":"Dallas","state":"TX","isRemote":false,"isActive":false,"createdAt":"2026-07-24T03:23:16.841Z","occupations":[{"code":"17-2112.02","title":"Validation Engineers","slug":"validation-engineers"},{"code":"11-3051.01","title":"Quality Control Systems Managers","slug":"quality-control-systems-managers"},{"code":"17-2011.00","title":"Aerospace Engineers","slug":"aerospace-engineers"}],"industries":[{"code":"336411","title":"Aircraft Manufacturing","slug":"aircraft-manufacturing"},{"code":"336413","title":"Other Aircraft Parts and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing","slug":"other-aircraft-parts-and-auxiliary-equipment-manufacturing"},{"code":"336414","title":"Guided Missile and Space Vehicle Manufacturing","slug":"guided-missile-and-space-vehicle-manufacturing"}],"jobPosting":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"JobPosting","title":"Principal Quality Engineer - Development Programs","description":"Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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.\n\nJob Description:\nThe Principal Quality Engineer serves as the senior technical quality authority for a complex aerospace development program. This role is responsible for establishing and driving quality engineering strategies that ensure products are designed, developed, tested, and transitioned to production with the highest levels of safety, reliability, manufacturability, and mission effectiveness.\n\nThe Principal Quality Engineer partners closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, Flight Test, and Program Management to identify technical risks, drive root cause investigations, improve product reliability, and ensure quality is designed into the product from inception through production readiness.\n\nAs the most senior individual contributor within the quality organization, this role provides technical leadership across development programs and serves as a key advisor to engineering and executive leadership on quality and reliability matters.\n\nWhat you’ll do:\nDevelopment Quality Leadership\n\nServe as the lead quality engineering representative on a major aerospace development program.\n\nEstablish quality engineering strategies and methodologies throughout the product development lifecycle.\n\nEnsure quality requirements are incorporated into system architecture, design, verification, validation, and production planning activities.\n\nDrive quality integration within cross-functional engineering teams.\n\nProvide technical leadership for complex quality and reliability challenges.\n\nDesign Quality & Product Development\n\nParticipate in system requirements reviews, design reviews, and technical readiness reviews.\n\nAssess product designs for quality, manufacturability, inspectability, maintainability, and reliability.\n\nIdentify and mitigate technical risks associated with design maturity and product performance.\n\nEvaluate engineering changes and configuration modifications for quality impact.\n\nChampion Design for Quality (DFQ), Design for Manufacturability (DFM), and Design for Reliability (DFR) principles.\n\nFailure Analysis & Root Cause Investigation\n\nLead investigations of the program’s most complex failures and quality escapes.\n\nApply advanced root cause methodologies to identify systemic causes of defects and failures.\n\nFacilitate cross-functional corrective action teams.\n\nDrive closure and effectiveness verification of corrective actions.\n\nMentor engineering teams in structured problem-solving techniques.\n\nReliability & Risk Management\n\nDevelop reliability growth strategies and quality metrics for development programs.\n\nSupport implementation and execution of FRACAS processes.\n\nAnalyze failure trends, test results, field data, and operational performance.\n\nIdentify emerging risks before they impact program objectives.\n\nRecommend design, process, or operational improvements to improve product robustness.\n\nVerification, Validation & Test Quality\n\nDevelop quality engineering approaches for laboratory, environmental, ground, and flight testing.\n\nEnsure test anomalies, failures, and nonconformances are properly evaluated and resolved.\n\nSupport qualification and certification efforts.\n\nEvaluate test readiness and production readiness criteria.\n\nEnsure lessons learned are captured and incorporated into future designs.\n\nManufacturing & Production Readiness\n\nPartner with Manufacturing Engineering to develop scalable production processes.\n\nSupport development of inspection strategies, acceptance criteria, and process controls.\n\nEvaluate manufacturing capability and production risks during product maturation.\n\nEnsure development lessons learned are translated into production controls.\n\nSupport transition from prototype builds to low-rate and full-rate production.\n\nSupplier & Component Quality\n\nSupport supplier quality planning for critical components and technologies.\n\nEvaluate supplier quality risks associated with development hardware.\n\nParticipate in supplier investigations and corrective actions when required.\n\nDrive quality improvements across the supply base supporting the program.\n\nTechnical Leadership\n\nServe as a mentor and technical coach to Quality Engineers and cross-functional engineering teams.\n\nDevelop quality engineering standards, tools, and best practices.\n\nInfluence program decisions through technical expertise and data-driven analysis.\n\nLead special projects involving advanced quality engineering methodologies.\n\nAct as a trusted advisor to engineering and executive leadership.\n\nRequired qualifications:\n\nBachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline.\n\n12+ years of experience in aerospace, defense, aviation, space, or similarly complex engineered products.\n\nExtensive experience supporting new product development programs.\n\nDeep understanding of quality engineering principles and development lifecycles.\n\nDemonstrated success leading complex technical investigations and root cause analyses.\n\nExperience with reliability engineering, failure analysis, and risk management.\n\nStrong understanding of aerospace manufacturing processes and production transitions.\n\nWorking knowledge of AS9100 quality systems and aerospace regulatory requirements.\n\nExcellent communication and technical leadership skills.\n\nPreferred qualifications:\n\nAdvanced degree in Engineering, Systems Engineering, Reliability Engineering, or related field.\n\nExperience with UAVs, autonomous systems, aircraft development, or defense technologies.\n\nExperience supporting flight test programs and developmental testing.\n\nExpertise in FRACAS, FMEA, reliability growth, and statistical analysis techniques.\n\nASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) or equivalent certification.\n\nExperience supporting military or government aerospace programs.\n\n$170,000 - $260,000 a year\n\nFull-time regular employee offer package:\n\nPay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity\n\nTemporary employee offer package:\n\nPay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)\n\nSalary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.\n\nShield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed toequal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.\n\n#J-18808-Ljbffr","datePosted":"2026-07-24T03:23:16.841Z","dateModified":"2026-07-24T03:23:16.841Z","hiringOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Blackcube Labs","sameAs":"https://jobsearcher.com"},"jobLocation":{"@type":"Place","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Dallas","addressRegion":"TX","addressCountry":"US"}},"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"JobSearcher","value":"abdc8bebf0d5d6c3fb63abd6"},"url":"https://jobsearcher.com/jobs/abdc8bebf0d5d6c3fb63abd6"}}