5 months ago
Base Salary
$234k - $351k/yr
Responsibilities
- Develop and integrate autonomy software for unmanned air, maritime, space, ground, or effects/expendables platforms.
- Own technical direction across multiple programs, including autonomy reference implementations, common patterns, architecture, and technical strategy.
- Integrate payload computers, sensors, command-and-control interfaces, embedded systems, and containerized deployments.
- Build, configure, validate, and release mission-ready systems through software-, hardware-, vehicle-, and live-test environments.
- Support field tests and mission operations, including system bring-up, safety checks, troubleshooting, and mission-data debriefs.
- Diagnose and optimize memory, CPU, timing, and broader hardware/software integration issues in lab and field environments.
- Set C2 interoperability strategy and implement or maintain compliance with standards such as A-GRA, UCI, and OMS.
- Drive cross-functional design reviews, architecture documentation, post-mortems, process improvements, and engineering rigor.
- Mentor senior engineers and team leads, shape the technical career bar, and contribute to hiring strategy and assessment.
- Represent the team to engineering leadership, customer and program offices, standards bodies, and external platform integrators.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a similar field, or equivalent practical experience.
- At least 10 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree, 9 years with a master’s degree, 7 years with a PhD, or equivalent work experience.
- Proficiency in C++ and experience developing or integrating real-time or latency-sensitive systems.
- Proficiency with Linux-based development, embedded systems, shell scripting, and system diagnostics.
- Familiarity with middleware, publish-subscribe, or IPC frameworks used in autonomy or robotics systems, such as DDS and message buses.
- Hands-on experience supporting demonstrations, exercises, or field and mission tests for unmanned or autonomous systems.
- Experience with autonomy simulation environments and validation workflows.
- Experience leading multiple teams or cross-program technical initiatives from concept through fielded delivery.
- Demonstrated technical leadership, subject-matter expertise, forward-looking strategy, architecture influence, and mentorship of senior engineers and team leads.
- Ability to troubleshoot and optimize system performance across the full stack in a multidisciplinary environment.
- Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.
- Preferred qualifications include Python, unmanned-system field testing, customer and DoD stakeholder engagement, autonomy stacks, motion planning, vehicle-control integration, vehicle electronics or payload-computer bring-up, hardware-in-the-loop debugging, container orchestration, PX4, ArduPilot, automation tools, Conan, CMake, CI/CD pipelines, A-GRA, UCI, OMS, AFSIM, and NGTS experience.
Benefits
- Full-time regular employees receive pay within the listed range, bonus, benefits, and equity; temporary employees receive the applicable temporary benefits package after 60 days.
- The role typically involves 10–20% travel to offices, customer sites, integration events, and test locations.
- Offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
- Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.
About Shield AI
Shield AI builds autonomous systems for military and national security customers, combining its Hivemind autonomy software with V-BAT and X-BAT unmanned aircraft and Aechelon simulation technologies. The privately held company sells hardware, software, and related services to U.S. and allied defense agencies. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Diego, it operates across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, and its technology is used in operational deployments.