Lead Staff Engineer, Autonomous Fleet & Systems

Shieldai; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 190,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a Lead Technical Delivery engineer to drive autonomy capabilities from software-in-the-loop to live field tests. You will own complex integration efforts, coordinate across Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, and external partners, and mentor engineers to deliver fleet-scale autonomous solutions for defense applications.

You will guide design reviews, ensure system-level quality, and manage pre-deployment readiness and mission support, including hardware/software validation and

Qualifications

• BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience.
• Typically 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Expert C++ and Linux development experience.
• Experience leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration efforts.
• Experience influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams.
• Experience supporting operational test events or customer deployments.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.
• Experience with launched effects or distributed autonomous systems.
• Experience integrating PX4, ArduPilot, or custom autopilot solutions.
• Experience with fleet-scale autonomous operations.
• Experience with disconnected or air-gapped deployments.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives.
• Experience with UCI, OMS, MOSA, WOSA, or TAK/CoT.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical delivery of major autonomy capabilities and drive technical direction across teams.
• Develop and field autonomy software on launched effects platforms and integration with autopilot systems.
• Serve as the primary technical interface across multiple teams and external partners.
• Lead design reviews, architecture decisions, and ICDs to improve engineering rigor.
• Coordinate validation, release planning, and hardware/software compatibility pre-deployment.
• Provide technical leadership during flight tests, demonstrations, and deployment activities.
• Lead root-cause analysis and debugging across autonomy software and hardware interfaces.
• Analyze mission data, reproduce issues, and drive corrective actions.
• Build tools and processes to improve deployment velocity and reliability.
• Drive C2 interoperability and open-systems standards alignment.
• Travel 10–20% of the year to support offices, sites, and tests.

Skills

C++

Linux

Autonomy software

Leadership

Cross-team collaboration

Mentoring

Operational test support

System integration

TAK/CoT

Clearance (SECRET)

PX4/ArduPilot

Fleet-scale autonomy

Air-gapped deployments

Education

BS in Engineering

MS in Engineering

Job description

Shield AI seeks a Lead Technical Delivery engineer to drive autonomy capabilities from software-in-the-loop to live field tests. You will own complex integration efforts, coordinate across Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, and external partners, and mentor engineers to deliver fleet-scale autonomous solutions for defense applications.

You will guide design reviews, ensure system-level quality, and manage pre-deployment readiness and mission support, including hardware/software validation and