Autonomy Engineering Manager | Lead & Grow a Robotics Team

Shield; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a senior engineering leader to head the Autonomy Capabilities team. You will own technical delivery, steer system architectures, and mentor engineers across autonomy domains including motion planning, track fusion, and perception-aware decision-making.

You will balance technical depth with people leadership and drive delivery from rapid prototyping to live tests. You will collaborate with Perception, Platform Integration, Simulation, Hardware, Flight Test, and Program teams,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant engineering experience in leadership roles.
• Experience leading a technical team from design through field delivery.
• Strong C++ production-grade software in robotics/autonomy.
• Experience with unmanned systems and autonomy testing.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. SECRET clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead and Grow the Team – manage autonomy engineers, 5–10 people, coaching and mentorship.
• Own Technical Delivery – drive autonomy capabilities from design to field deployment.
• Set Technical Direction – define architectures for mission autonomy.
• Develop Tactical Autonomy – guide planning, behaviors, multi-agent coordination, decision-making.
• Remain Technically Engaged – contribute to code, prototyping, and critical reviews.
• Drive Engineering and Integration Rigor – ensure high-performance, well-tested software.
• Navigate Ambiguity – adapt to changing priorities and communicate changes.
• Partner Across Teams and Customers – collaborate with internal teams and DoD/intl customers.
• Lead Testing and Continuous Improvement – validate across IL, HIL, live tests.
• Travel Requirement – ~10–15% travel annually.

Skills

People leadership

C++

Robotics systems

Autonomy

System architecture

Education

BS in CS/EE/ME/Aerospace

Tools

ROS

Simulation

Real-time systems

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a senior engineering leader to head the Autonomy Capabilities team. You will own technical delivery, steer system architectures, and mentor engineers across autonomy domains including motion planning, track fusion, and perception-aware decision-making.

You will balance technical depth with people leadership and drive delivery from rapid prototyping to live tests. You will collaborate with Perception, Platform Integration, Simulation, Hardware, Flight Test, and Program teams,