Senior Engineer, Flight Test (R5371)

Shield AI; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer, Flight Test to lead comprehensive flight test strategies validating autonomous behaviors and software integrations across real-world environments. You will collaborate with software, hardware, and product teams to reproduce mission scenarios, identify issues, and improve platform reliability.

The role focuses on building testing tooling, automating validation workflows, and mentoring engineers to raise testing standards and operational readiness.

Qualifications

• Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 4 years and a Master's degree; or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in software quality engineering, test automation, and programming with Python and C++.
• Experience planning and executing field or flight testing for robotics, autonomous systems, or complex software platforms.
• Experience developing automated test tooling, validation frameworks, or data analysis tools.
• Demonstrated experience designing, documenting, executing, and tracking test plans, test cases, and software defects.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze flight logs, telemetry, and system behavior to identify root causes.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate across software, hardware, product, and test organizations.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate (or the ability to obtain one within a reasonable timeframe).

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute flight test plans that validate new autonomy capabilities, software integrations, and system performance in real-world flight environments.
• Design and execute test scenarios that reproduce operational customer workflows and mission conditions to identify software defects, integration issues, and performance limitations.
• Build analysis tools and validation workflows that improve test coverage, accelerate regression testing, and reduce time to identify issues.
• Review flight logs, telemetry, rosbags, and system data to triage issues, perform root-cause analysis, and collaborate with engineering teams to drive resolution.
• Work closely with middleware, autonomy, and integration teams to develop complementary test strategies, share tooling, and improve overall product quality.
• Provide technical guidance to junior engineers, establish testing standards, and help improve engineering processes across the organization.
• Maintain standard operating procedures, participate in flight operations, and contribute to the continuous improvement of testing processes and operational readiness.

Skills

Python

C++

Software quality engineering

Test automation

Field/flight testing

Root-cause analysis

Communication

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

ROS

CI/CD

Linux

HIL testing

Simulation tools

TypeScript

JSON

C++14/C++17

Job description

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense‑tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software and V‑BAT and X‑BAT aircraft. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia‑Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

Are you a passionate and innovative engineer looking to help develop state‑of‑the‑art AI and robotics products? Are you eager to make a positive difference in the world? Do you want to work alongside mission‑driven and values‑focused teammates? Shield AI is just the place for you!

The Hivemind Quality team is committed to ensuring our autonomy platform delivers reliable, mission‑ready capabilities through rigorous integration, validation, and flight testing. We work closely with autonomy, platform, and hardware teams to validate new features in simulation, hardware‑in‑the‑loop, and real‑world flight environments, ensuring our customers can confidently deploy autonomous systems in demanding operational conditions.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Engineer, Flight Test passionate about autonomy development and system validation. In this role, you will develop and execute comprehensive flight test strategies that validate autonomous behaviors, software integrations, and end‑to‑end system performance. You will work closely with software, hardware, and product teams to reproduce real‑world mission scenarios, identify product issues, and improve the quality and reliability of the Hivemind platform. You will also develop tooling that accelerates testing and analysis while mentoring engineers and helping establish best practices across the organization. This position bridges software quality, systems integration, and flight operations—ensuring our autonomy platform delivers reliable, mission‑ready autonomous capabilities.

What you’ll do:

• Develop and execute flight test plans that validate new autonomy capabilities, software integrations, and system performance in real‑world flight environments.
• Design and execute test scenarios that reproduce operational customer workflows and mission conditions to identify software defects, integration issues, and performance limitations.
• Build analysis tools and validation workflows that improve test coverage, accelerate regression testing, and reduce time to identify issues.
• Review flight logs, telemetry, rosbags, and system data to triage issues, perform root‑cause analysis, and collaborate with engineering teams to drive resolution.
• Work closely with middleware, autonomy, and integration teams to develop complementary test strategies, share tooling, and improve overall product quality.
• Provide technical guidance to junior engineers, establish testing standards, and help improve engineering processes across the organization.
• Maintain standard operating procedures, participate in flight operations, and contribute to the continuous improvement of testing processes and operational readiness.

Required qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 4 years and a Master's degree; or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in software quality engineering, test automation, and programming with Python and C++.
• Experience planning and executing field or flight testing for robotics, autonomous systems, or complex software platforms.
• Experience developing automated test tooling, validation frameworks, or data analysis tools.
• Demonstrated experience designing, documenting, executing, and tracking test plans, test cases, and software defects.
• Strong problem‑solving skills with the ability to analyze flight logs, telemetry, and system behavior to identify root causes.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate across software, hardware, product, and test organizations.
• FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate (or the ability to obtain one within a reasonable timeframe).

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience using GenAI tools to improve engineering productivity or software quality.
• Experience with C++14/C++17, TypeScript, JSON, and modern software development practices.
• Experience with ROS.
• Proficiency with simulation tools and Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop (HIL) testing environments.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with networking, Linux operating systems, and radio communications.
• Experience testing autonomous aerial systems or other robotic platforms.
• Experience analyzing flight telemetry, sensor data, and autonomy behaviors.

$110,000 - $170,000 a year

Full‑time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part‑time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.