Autonomy Software Test & Automation Lead

Shield AI; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Software Test & Automation Manager to lead a multidisciplinary engineering team focused on verification strategies and automated validation for Hivemind autonomy and related programs. You will partner with software, systems, platform, and flight test teams to ensure readiness across SIL, HIL, VIL, and operations environments.

The role emphasizes building scalable automation, establishing quality gates, and delivering objective performance metrics to guide development

Qualifications

• Lead and grow a team of Software Test & Automation Engineers.
• Define verification and validation strategies spanning simulation, SIL, HIL, VIL, and operational test environments.
• Drive the development of automated regression testing, validation frameworks, and test infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of Software Test & Automation Engineers supporting Expeditionary and Emerging Operations.
• Define verification and validation strategies spanning simulation, SIL, HIL, VIL, and operational test environments.
• Drive the development of automated regression testing, validation frameworks, and test infrastructure that improve software quality and engineering velocity.
• Establish software readiness criteria, quality gates, and objective performance metrics used to assess autonomy maturity throughout the development lifecycle.
• Partner with Digital Infrastructure to integrate automated validation into CI/CD pipelines and expand continuous testing capabilities.
• Develop common automation frameworks, reusable test assets, and validation methodologies across multiple autonomy programs.
• Coordinate software readiness activities with software engineering, systems engineering, platform integration, and flight test teams.
• Develop technical roadmaps, staffing plans, and engineering priorities aligned with organizational objectives.
• Mentor engineers, conduct performance reviews, recruit top talent, and foster technical excellence across the organization.
• Present software readiness assessments, technical risks, and validation status to program leadership, Chief Engineers, and executive stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Verification strategies

Automation frameworks

CI/CD integration

Testing infrastructure

Performance metrics

Mentoring engineers

Technical roadmaps

Tools

ROS

SonarQube

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Software Test & Automation Manager to lead a multidisciplinary engineering team focused on verification strategies and automated validation for Hivemind autonomy and related programs. You will partner with software, systems, platform, and flight test teams to ensure readiness across SIL, HIL, VIL, and operations environments.

The role emphasizes building scalable automation, establishing quality gates, and delivering objective performance metrics to guide development