Head of Space Autonomy Engineering — Equity

Shield; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 211,000 - 316,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI, a defense-tech leader, seeks a Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain to own the technical vision for mission-ready autonomy. You will define end-to-end architectures, lead cross-functional teams, and ensure reliable operation across multi-orbit environments and diverse payloads.

This is a hands-on leadership role focused on real-world deployment rather than research. You will drive architecture, risk posture, verification strategies, and customer confidence, guiding system-level

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of experience in autonomy, space systems, or related fields.
• Demonstrated depth across multiple domains including autonomy, space, ISR, and mission systems.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical authority for space-domain autonomy.
• Define and evolve an autonomy architecture for end-to-end tasking and data flows.
• Lead development of autonomous behaviors for multi-constellation and multi-orbit missions.
• Define approaches for autonomously selecting and coordinating payload data sources.
• Architect and govern hybrid on-board/off-board processing strategies and data workflows.
• Drive verification, validation, and risk management across complex autonomy systems.
• Partner with product, program, mission ops, and security leaders to balance performance and risk.
• Mentor a high-performing technical organization of engineers and domain experts.

Skills

Autonomy

Space systems

Systems engineering

Leadership

Communication

Proposal support

Education

Bachelors in STEM

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Shield AI, a defense-tech leader, seeks a Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain to own the technical vision for mission-ready autonomy. You will define end-to-end architectures, lead cross-functional teams, and ensure reliable operation across multi-orbit environments and diverse payloads.

This is a hands-on leadership role focused on real-world deployment rather than research. You will drive architecture, risk posture, verification strategies, and customer confidence, guiding system-level