Shield AI

Shield AI

Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Weapons (R5400)

Washington, DC · Staff+ · Part-time

No sponsorship$195k-$293kDetected 13 hours ago
C++LinuxRecruitingEmbedded SystemsLeadershipCollaborationMentoring

About the role

  • Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft.
  • For more information, visit www.shield.ai.
  • Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Responsibilities

  • Lead Technical Delivery - Lead the technical execution of major autonomy capabilities
  • drive technical direction, coordinate cross-functional execution, mentor engineers, and help deliver complex integration efforts.
  • Develop & Field Autonomy - Develop and integrate autonomy software solutions onto launched effects platforms, including autopilot integration, payload systems, executive autonomy, multi-agent coordination, and fleet-scale deployment to disconnected or air-gapped environments.
  • Collaboration Across Teams & Partners - Serve as a primary technical interface with the Autonomy Capabilities team, Perception team, feature crews, autopilot vendors, C2 providers, and customer/contractor partners
  • Design & Documentation - Lead design reviews, contribute to architecture decisions and ICDs, improve engineering rigor, and establish repeatable integration practices across multiple efforts.
  • Pre-deployment Preparation - Drive mission readiness for Capability Releases and fleet-scale deployments by coordinating validation, release planning, hardware/software compatibility, and operational readiness.
  • Hardware/Software Debugging - Lead root-cause analysis across autonomy software, payload computers, embedded systems, networking, and platform interfaces using simulation, lab testing, and field data.
  • Mission Data & Debrief Support - Analyze mission data, reproduce issues, coordinate corrective actions across engineering teams, and drive continuous improvements into future releases.
  • Continuous Improvement - Build tools, automation, and engineering processes that improve deployment velocity, mission reliability, developer productivity, and integration efficiency.
  • C2 Interoperability & Standards - Drive implementation of command-and-control interfaces and support compliance with open-systems standards while coordinating closely with external integration partners.

Requirements

  • BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience.
  • Typically requires 7+ years of relevant experience.
  • Expert C++ and Linux development experience.
  • Experience leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration efforts.
  • Experience influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams.
  • Experience supporting operational test events or customer deployments.
  • Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Nice to have

  • Experience with launched effects or distributed autonomous systems.
  • Experience integrating PX4, ArduPilot, or custom autopilot solutions.
  • Experience with fleet-scale autonomous operations.
  • Experience with disconnected or air-gapped deployments.
  • Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives.
  • Experience with UCI, OMS, MOSA, WOSA, or TAK/CoT.
  • All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check.
  • Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information. ### Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation

  • #LI-ED1 #LD Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Benefits

  • Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits.
  • We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Company info

  • Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
  • We combine capabilities from the Autonomy Capabilities team (motion planning, tactics), the Perception team (e.g., track fusion), and the HivemindSDK to develop the autonomy software that runs on launched effects platforms, then integrate, validate, and field it on the real hardware-for U.S. and international defense customers.
  • Our engineers write new autonomy code-such as mission behaviors, platform-specific control, multi-agent coordination, contingencies, and executive autonomy-and own it end-to-end from software-in-the-loop, to hardware-in-the-loop, to vehicle-in-the-loop, to live test exercise.

Equal opportunity

  • equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.
  • If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
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This listing is sourced directly from Shield AI's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.