Senior Staff Engineer Autonomous Systems Integration
Shield AI is a U.S. defense-technology company developing mission-autonomy software and autonomous aircraft for military and allied operations.
Funding history
Investors
About Shield AI
Founded in 2015, Shield AI builds Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft for operations in contested, GPS- and communications-denied environments. Its current site also presents Aechelon synthetic-reality simulation and Vision Systems detection and tracking products.
Skills
Candidate Availability
Required and preferred rules are kept separate and reflect the wording in the original posting.
About the Role
You will serve as a senior technical authority for Hivemind integration and test readiness across unmanned systems, onboard compute, radios, sensors, payloads, and ground equipment. You will lead hands-on integration, troubleshooting, platform evaluation, and readiness planning from benchtop work through field and flight-test execution. You will diagnose cross-disciplinary issues, improve test methods and evidence practices, support automation and data review, document reusable lessons, and mentor engineers and operators in practical autonomy test execution.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in UxS or UAS systems integration, robotics hardware integration, autonomy test operations, flight test, field engineering, embedded systems, or similar roles
- Experience leading integration across hardware, software, autonomy, networking, communications, sensors, and operational test environments
- Experience configuring, operating, and troubleshooting unmanned systems, onboard compute, flight controllers, radios, sensors, ground stations, and test equipment
- Working knowledge of Linux, embedded systems, networking, system configuration, data collection, logs, services, and field diagnostics
- Experience with PX4, ArduPilot, MAVLink, Pixhawk, QGroundControl, Mission Planner, or equivalent systems
- Experience with simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, live-vehicle, field, or flight-test environments
- Ability to develop and communicate test plans, readiness criteria, operating assumptions, recommendations, and post-test findings
- Analytical, problem-solving, and debugging skills
- Ability to lead through influence across cross-functional stakeholders
- Experience with Python, Bash, MATLAB, or similar scripting, automation, or data-analysis tools
- Ability to comply with export-control, safety, security, customer-site, and mission-specific requirements
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance and U.S. citizenship
Responsibilities
- Serve as a technical focal point for Hivemind integration and test readiness
- Lead integration and troubleshooting across autonomy software, hardware, flight controllers, communications, networking, operator interfaces, and field operations
- Evaluate platforms for development, validation, training, demonstrations, and customer objectives
- Take systems from concept or benchtop integration through representative testing and demonstrations
- Assess platform suitability, integration complexity, readiness, risk, safety, maintainability, cost, availability, and customer value
- Support simulated, hardware-in-the-loop, live-vehicle, and flight-test execution
- Define readiness criteria, test expectations, operating assumptions, and handoff points
- Diagnose and route complex cross-disciplinary issues
- Improve test methods, metrics, evidence practices, automation, tooling, and data review
- Capture lessons from platform bring-up, test events, flight operations, and demonstrations
- Mentor engineers and operators on systems integration and test execution
Benefits
- Bonus
- Benefits
- Equity