Senior Autonomy Engineer — Pilot Integration & Testing

Shield; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an Autonomous Pilot Integration engineer to design, implement, and field autonomy software for unmanned platforms across air, maritime, and space domains. You will lead a small team, define technical direction, and collaborate with internal capability teams and external partners to deliver mission-ready autonomy capabilities.

You will own end-to-end integration from software-in-the-loop to live test exercises, mentor engineers, drive design reviews, and help shape interface

Qualifications

• BS/MS in CS/EE/AE or equivalent practical experience.
• Minimum 7 years with a Bachelor’s, 5 years with a Master’s, 4 years with a PhD, or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in C++, with real-time or latency-sensitive systems experience.
• Proficiency in Linux-based development and embedded systems diagnostics.
• Experience with middleware, pub-sub, IPC frameworks (DDS).
• Hands-on experience supporting field demos/tests for unmanned/autonomous systems.
• Experience leading a small technical team or owning a major capability from design to field delivery.
• Strong problem solving and teamwork; able to communicate across disciplines.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and field autonomy software on unmanned platforms end-to-end.
• Provide technical leadership and direction to a small team.
• Collaborate with Autonomy Capabilities and Perception teams and external partners; draft interfaces and contracts.
• Mentor engineers and onboard new hires; lead design reviews and post-mortems.
• Own build, configuration, and validation for mission-ready systems; coordinate hardware/software readiness.
• Travel 10–20% of the year for tests, deployments, and integration events.

Skills

C++ proficiency

Linux development

Team leadership

Mentoring engineers

Strong communication

Problem solving

SECRET clearance eligibility

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science / Electrical Engineering / Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering or similar

Tools

Container orchestration (k3s/k3d, Docker)

Python scripting

CI/CD pipelines

Conan/CMake build systems

DDS / middleware / IPC frameworks

Job description

Shield AI is seeking an Autonomous Pilot Integration engineer to design, implement, and field autonomy software for unmanned platforms across air, maritime, and space domains. You will lead a small team, define technical direction, and collaborate with internal capability teams and external partners to deliver mission-ready autonomy capabilities.

You will own end-to-end integration from software-in-the-loop to live test exercises, mentor engineers, drive design reviews, and help shape interface