Senior Autonomy Software Lead — UAV Flight Systems

Energy Jobline ZR; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Comprehensive Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a seasoned engineer to lead the technical delivery of autonomy capabilities for expeditionary platforms, including V-BAT and X-BAT, from architecture to field deployment.

You will coordinate across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, and GCS teams, defining integration approaches and ensuring mission readiness while mentoring engineers and driving engineering rigor.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent experience.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical delivery of complex autonomy capabilities from architecture through field deployment across multiple engineering teams.
• Drive integration of mission autonomy, payloads, flight-control interfaces, executive autonomy, and multi-agent behaviors onto V-BAT and X-BAT.
• Serve as a primary technical partner to the Aircraft team, defining integration approaches and ensuring mission readiness.
• Partner across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, ACP, and feature crews to solve complex systems integration challenges.
• Influence architecture, interface design, and integration strategy across subsystems.
• Lead design reviews, contribute to ICDs, mentor engineers, and improve engineering rigor.
• Drive release readiness while supporting flight tests, customer demonstrations, and deployments.
• Improve integration workflows, testing infrastructure, and engineering productivity.
• Drive implementation of GCS and C2 interfaces using common open-standards.

Skills

C++

Linux

Autonomy software

Leadership

System integration

Customer deployments

Education

BS/MS in engineering

Tools

Docker

CI/CD

ARM embedded

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a seasoned engineer to lead the technical delivery of autonomy capabilities for expeditionary platforms, including V-BAT and X-BAT, from architecture to field deployment.

You will coordinate across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, and GCS teams, defining integration approaches and ensuring mission readiness while mentoring engineers and driving engineering rigor.