Senior Staff Software Engineer Autonomous Pilot Integration Weapons
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 set technical direction for launched-effects autonomy, integration patterns, architecture, and fleet-scale deployment. You will lead cross-functional engineering work, prepare systems for deployment, resolve complex integration issues, support operational events, and develop senior technical talent.
Requirements
- BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience
- 10+ years of relevant experience
- Expert-level C++ and Linux systems development experience
- Experience defining technical strategy across multiple engineering teams or programs
- Experience influencing architecture and solving highly complex autonomy integration challenges
- Experience mentoring senior engineers and driving engineering excellence
- Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance
Responsibilities
- Define technical direction, integration patterns, architecture, and engineering strategy for launched effects
- Guide development and integration of mission autonomy and multi-agent deployment capabilities
- Build technical partnerships with autonomy, perception, autopilot, command-and-control, and customer stakeholders
- Lead architecture reviews, interface standards, ICDs, and post-mortems
- Guide release planning, deployment strategies, mission validation, and operational readiness
- Provide technical leadership during flight tests, demonstrations, and operational exercises
- Resolve complex autonomy integration issues across software, embedded systems, networking, and platform interfaces
- Drive improvements to testing infrastructure, integration workflows, developer experience, and mission reliability
- Define command-and-control interoperability strategy and open-systems standards
- Mentor senior engineers and define hiring standards for senior roles
Benefits
- Bonus
- Equity