Senior Engineer, Safety-Critical Software (R5788)

Lever, Inc.; San Diego, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer to design, develop, and integrate a Run-Time Assurance product for safety-critical autonomous systems. You will work on real-time C++ at the edge, integrating with HIL and flight-test campaigns for Shield AI's aircraft platforms.

You will collaborate across software, systems, test, and platform teams to ensure reliable, verifiable software that keeps autonomy safe and predictable in complex environments.

Qualifications

• Strong C++ development experience for real-time, safety-critical systems
• Experience with HIL, aerospace, or autonomous platforms
• Experience integrating software with hardware and test environments
• Familiarity with CI/CD and test-focused development
• Ability to write clear technical documentation and collaborate across teams
• Experience following safety standards and coding guidelines

Responsibilities

• Develop, integrate, and test Run-Time Assurance components that monitor autonomy behavior
• Adapt C++ safety capabilities into production runtime components and tests
• Implement real-time C++ at the boundary of autonomy, middleware, and flight interfaces
• Integrate safety-critical software with aircraft hardware for HIL and flight tests
• Strengthen engineering evidence via code reviews, documentation, ICDs, and models
• Share safe software practices through design discussions and reviews

Skills

C++ development

Real-time embedded

Git & Linux

CI/CD & test-first

Documentation & collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

CMake

Conan

Python

MISRA C++

Job description

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, V-BAT and X-BATaircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. 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:

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer to help design, develop, and integrate a safety critical Run-Time Assurance (RTA) product. The Hivemind Foundations team is responsible for a suite of core products and capabilities that brings resilient autonomy and intelligence to aircraft and other platforms operating in complex environments. The RTA product that the Foundations team develops is a real-time safety capability that helps keep autonomy safe, predictable, and effective at the edge.

As a member of the Foundations team, you will be responsible for C++ software development, integration of reusable safety capabilities into production systems, defining clean interfaces and tests, and turn safety-critical designs into reliable software that can fly, including support for X-BAT, Shield AI's flagship Group 5 Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) UAV.

What you'll do

• Develop, integrate, and test configurable Run-Time Assurance (RTA) components that monitor autonomy behavior and support safe operation across representative platforms and scenarios.
• Adapt reusable C++ safety capabilities into production runtime components, including interface integration, configuration wiring, and unit, component, and integration tests.
• Implement real-time C++ code at the boundary between mission autonomy, high-assurance middleware, and flight-control interfaces.
• Integrate safety-critical software with aircraft hardware for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and flight-test campaigns, scaling from single-aircraft test points to multi-agent collaborative CONOPS.
• Strengthen engineering evidence through CI, static and dynamic analysis, focused code reviews, software documentation, software designs, ICDs, system models, test results, and traceability artifacts.
• Share safe software practices through code reviews, design discussions, and clear technical write-ups.

Required qualifications

• Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 4 years with a Master’s degree; or 2 year with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
• Strong C++ development experience, including modern C++, testing, debugging, and performance-aware design.
• Experience building software for real-time, embedded, robotics, autonomy, aerospace, or similarly constrained systems.
• Experience integrating software with hardware, simulation, Hardware in the Loop (HIL), or production-like test environments and diagnosing reliability or performance issues.
• Familiarity with C++ software design patterns and the ability to work effectively within an existing architecture.
• Strong Git and Linux development skills, along with modern software development practices such as CI/CD and test-focused development.
• Ability to write clear technical documentation and collaborate across software, systems, test, and platform teams.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with autonomy middleware, interface definitions, Python-based configuration tooling, CMake, Conan, or reusable C++ library integration.
• Familiarity with high-reliability or safety-critical development practices, such as static analysis, coding standards, traceability, and requirements-based testing.
• Experience developing against strict C++ coding standards such as MISRA C++ or JSF AV C++.
• Hands‑on experience with airworthiness or software assurance frameworks such as MIL-HDBK-516, DO-178C, or equivalent safety standards.
• Experience taking a software component through verification, qualification, or certification evidence review.

$160,000 - $250,000 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 toequal 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.