Head of Space Autonomy Engineering

Shield; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 211,000 - 316,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain to define and deliver mission-ready autonomy capabilities across space environments. You will own system architecture, verification strategies, and risk posture for end-to-end autonomy, spanning satellites, hosted payloads, and ground systems.

This leadership role focuses on delivering real-world autonomy rather than research. You will drive architecture for end-to-end sensing, data processing, and dissemination, guiding technical

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, electrical/computer engineering, systems engineering, applied mathematics, robotics, physics, or a related technical discipline.
• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in autonomy, space systems, aerospace, robotics, mission systems, ISR, or satellite operations.
• Demonstrated technical depth in autonomous planning, space mission planning, multi-orbit/multi-constellation tasking, embedded/edge/cloud compute architectures, ISR payload processing, data-product generation, systems engineering, and cross-functional leadership.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical trade-offs to engineers, executives, government customers, operators, and mission partners.
• Experience supporting customer-facing technical work, proposals, demonstrations, and technical reviews.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical authority for space-domain autonomy, accountable for mission architecture, software/system design, technical execution, product quality, technical risk, verification evidence, and customer technical confidence.
• Define and evolve an autonomy architecture that supports end-to-end tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination across a heterogeneous space enterprise.
• Lead the development of automatic and autonomous behaviors for multi-constellation and multi-orbit tasking, including prioritization, scheduling, and replanning.
• Architect and govern hybrid on-board and off-board processing strategies, including where inference, fusion, and storage execute.
• Lead the technical design of advanced exploitation capabilities, including sensor fusion, event detection, and analyst-in-the-loop workflows.
• Own the technical approach for dissemination of mission products and data interfaces, standards, and access control.

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain to define and deliver mission-ready autonomy capabilities across space environments. You will own system architecture, verification strategies, and risk posture for end-to-end autonomy, spanning satellites, hosted payloads, and ground systems.

This leadership role focuses on delivering real-world autonomy rather than research. You will drive architecture for end-to-end sensing, data processing, and dissemination, guiding technical