Autonomy Engineering Lead for Launched Effects

InvestedintheMission; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a seasoned Autonomous Pilot Integration Team lead to oversee a small-to-mid sized group developing autonomy software for launched effects platforms. You will hire, mentor, and deliver complex autonomy capabilities across hardware-in-the-loop and live exercises, coordinating with autopilot vendors and DoD customers.

You will shape technical direction, drive design reviews, and ensure mission-ready deployments in disconnected environments, traveling as needed for live

Qualifications

• BS/MS in CS, EE, ME, AE, or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum 7 years with a Bachelor’s; 5 years with a Master’s; 4 years with a PhD; or equivalent.
• 2+ years of direct people-management experience.
• Demonstrated experience building or growing an engineering team, including interviewing, hiring, onboarding.
• Mentoring engineers and growing their technical skill and career trajectory.
• Demonstrated experience leading a small technical team or owning a major capability from design through field delivery.
• Experience authoring or negotiating interface contracts / ICDs with stakeholders.
• Direct experience with launched effects, loitering munitions, or comparable small unmanned platforms.
• Experience with multi-agent, swarm, or fleet-scale autonomy.
• Strong proficiency in C++, with experience in real-time or latency-sensitive systems.
• Familiarity with embedded systems debugging and Linux-based development.
• Experience with autonomy stacks, motion planning, or vehicle-control integration.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Team — Manage a 3–8 engineer team; own performance, growth, leveling, and delivery; run 1:1s and reviews.
• Grow the Team via Hiring — Drive hiring, run interviews, close strong candidates.
• Grow Engineers Technically — Mentor through hard problems and provide actionable feedback.
• Develop & Field Autonomy — Develop autonomy software for launched effects platforms and deploy to hardware.
• Technical Leadership — Set direction for a small feature crew or sub-program.
• Collaboration Across Teams & Partners — Interface with Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, autopilot vendors, C2 providers, and partners; negotiate ICDs.
• Design & Documentation — Lead design reviews, ICDs, and post-mortems.
• Pre-deployment Preparation — Own build, configuration, and validation for mission-ready systems; coordinate for fleet deployments.
• On-site Test & Mission Support — Travel to test sites for live mission operations and safety checks.
• Hardware/Software Debugging — Diagnose integration issues across autonomy stacks and embedded systems.
• Mission Data & Debrief Support — Capture data, reproduce in simulation, drive fixes.
• Continuous Improvement — Build tools to improve integration timelines and reliability.
• C2 Interoperability & Standards — Own interface contracts with C2 providers; ensure standards compliance.
• Travel Requirement — 20–30% travel to office locations and customer sites.

Skills

C++

Linux

Embedded systems

Team leadership

Mentoring engineers

DoD clearance

Autonomy stack

Education

BS/MS in CS/EE/ME/AE or equivalent

Tools

PX4

ArduPilot

DDS

QGroundControl

CI/CD

Job description

Shield AI seeks a seasoned Autonomous Pilot Integration Team lead to oversee a small-to-mid sized group developing autonomy software for launched effects platforms. You will hire, mentor, and deliver complex autonomy capabilities across hardware-in-the-loop and live exercises, coordinating with autopilot vendors and DoD customers.

You will shape technical direction, drive design reviews, and ensure mission-ready deployments in disconnected environments, traveling as needed for live