Shield AI

Senior Engineer, Flight Test (R5371)

San Diego, California · Senior · Part-time

Sponsorship not specified$110k-$170kDetected 1 day ago

TypeScriptPythonCI/CDLinuxData AnalysisRecruitingRoboticsTest AutomationManual TestingCommunicationProblem SolvingMentoring

About the role

Develop and execute flight test plans that validate new autonomy capabilities, software integrations, and system performance in real-world flight environments.
Design and execute test scenarios that reproduce operational customer workflows and mission conditions to identify software defects, integration issues, and performance limitations.
Review flight logs, telemetry, rosbags, and system data to triage issues, perform root-cause analysis, and collaborate with engineering teams to drive resolution.
Work closely with middleware, autonomy, and integration teams to develop complementary test strategies, share tooling, and improve overall product quality.
Maintain standard operating procedures, participate in flight operations, and contribute to the continuous improvement of testing processes and operational readiness.
Are you a passionate and innovative engineer looking to help develop state-of-the-art AI and robotics products?
In this role, you will develop and execute comprehensive flight test strategies that validate autonomous behaviors, software integrations, and end-to-end system performance.
You will also develop tooling that accelerates testing and analysis while mentoring engineers and helping establish best practices across the organization.
This position bridges software quality, systems integration, and flight operations-ensuring our autonomy platform delivers reliable, mission-ready autonomous capabilities.

Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree
or 4 years and a Master's degree
Proficiency in software quality engineering, test automation, and programming with Python and C++.
Experience planning and executing field or flight testing for robotics, autonomous systems, or complex software platforms.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze flight logs, telemetry, and system behavior to identify root causes.

Experience using GenAI tools to improve engineering productivity or software quality.
Experience with C++14/C++17, TypeScript, JSON, and modern software development practices.
Experience with ROS.
Proficiency with simulation tools and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing environments.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines.
Familiarity with networking, Linux operating systems, and radio communications.
Experience testing autonomous aerial systems or other robotic platforms.
Experience analyzing flight telemetry, sensor data, and autonomy behaviors.

Salary 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.

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Build analysis tools and validation workflows that improve test coverage, accelerate regression testing, and reduce time to identify issues.

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI's technology actively supports operations worldwide.
The Hivemind Quality team is committed to ensuring our autonomy platform delivers reliable, mission-ready capabilities through rigorous integration, validation, and flight testing.
We work closely with autonomy, platform, and hardware teams to validate new features in simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, and real-world flight environments, ensuring our customers can confidently deploy autonomous systems in demanding operational conditions.
We are seeking an experienced Senior Engineer, Flight Test passionate about autonomy development and system validation.

This listing is sourced directly from Shield AI's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.