Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
About The Team
The Autonomy Capabilities team at Shield AI has assembled a diverse team of experts in software, robotics, control systems, optimization, and data analysis to create software solutions that greatly evolve the capabilities of our customers. The team is responsible for developing autonomous behaviors within Shield AI’s industry-leading mission autonomy software stack and deploying them across a breadth of platforms, including the Anduril Fury, Northrup Grumman Talon, Shield AI V-Bat, and other first and third-party autonomous vehicles. We work in close coordination with specialist teams in software integration, hardware, and test engineering to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers.
About the Job:
As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll build and own autonomy behaviors that directly power our products, taking responsibility for key components from design through deployment. You’ll work across teams to turn complex mission needs into reliable, scalable software, balancing near-term delivery with long-term maintainability and performance. In this role, you’ll play a critical part in shaping how autonomy capabilities are designed, integrated, and evolved across our platforms.
What You'll Do:
Develop tactical autonomy software to enable unmanned platforms to perform complex missions across air, land, sea, and space domains with limited human supervision
Implement and test behaviors supporting multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios
Contribute across the software development lifecycle, including requirements, design, implementation, verification, and validation, following established engineering best practices
Collaborate with senior engineers to design and build scalable, maintainable software components that integrate with broader system architecture (e.g., sensor processing, state estimation, communications, and actuation)
Support reuse and extensibility of autonomy behaviors by contributing to shared frameworks and codebases
Work with internal product and program teams to deliver capabilities to vehicle platforms, helping ensure successful integration and iteration over time
Collaborate with cross-functional and external teams to align on interfaces and system requirements
Apply strong software engineering fundamentals to solve complex technical problems, while continuing to grow domain expertise in autonomy and robotics systems
Travel up to 20% to support integration, testing, and collaboration with end-users and partner teams
Required Qualifications:
BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
Proficient in production-level C++ software development
5+ years' experience in one or more of the following: software sub-system scheduling and integration, behavior planning, task and resource allocation, motion planning, optimization, or flight controls
Experience with collaborative software development tools for version control, issue tracking, code reviews, release management
Ability to contribute to the design, development, and integration of complex software systems as part of a multi-disciplinary team
Demonstrated problem-solving skills and ability to learn new technologies in a fast-paced environment
Willingness to collaborate closely with teammates and support team objectives
Interest in growing technical skills and, over time, providing guidance to more junior engineers
Desire to work in a highly collaborative, fast paced, and mission-driven environment
Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience working with systems at one or more technology readiness levels (TRLs), including supporting the maturation of research concepts toward operational use
Experience with mission systems integration, including participation in integration events, testing, or demonstrations
Experience in one or more of the following areas:
Collaborative mission planning, behavior planning, or coordinated teaming
Motion planning across different vehicle types or constraints
Sensor/target pairing, control strategies, or related autonomy functions
Safety systems such as collision avoidance or geofencing
Experience with robotic software ecosystems (e.g., ROS, OMPL, optimization tools)
Experience with simulation tools for testing and validation
Familiarity with navigation and communications systems
Experience contributing to portions of the product development lifecycle
Familiarity with systems engineering principles
Familiarity with high-assurance software practices (e.g., DO-178C or similar standards)
