Senior Maritime Autonomy Engineer — Multi-Agent Robotics

Front Door Defense; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI in the United States seeks a Senior Software Engineer to develop and deploy end‑to‑end maritime autonomy features for USVs, UUVs, and cooperating UAVs. Location options include Boston, MA; Washington, DC; San Diego, CA; and Dallas, TX.

Compensation ranges from $160,000 to $240,000 USD per year. The Autonomy Capabilities team integrates advanced control, motion planning, and multi‑agent coordination, with strong emphasis on real‑world integration and TRL progress.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python
• Significant background in robotic technology areas related to control systems, motion planning, optimization, tactical behaviors, and/or distributed decision-making
• Experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (ideally in the maritime domain)
• Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS, or similar) for testing and validation

Responsibilities

• Robust Motion Planning – Automate unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and/or unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) maneuvering through advanced motion planning and adherence to safety constraints including keep-out volumes, cooperative and uncooperative vehicles, and depth limitations
• Localization and Tracking – Employ cutting edge approaches for passive and active localization by defining fusion modalities, sensor requirements, and observability-aware maneuvering capabilities to maximize information gleaned from single- or multi-agent sensor networks
• Safe Maritime Operations – Keep vehicle safety as a central focus within autonomous behavior architectures to provide run-time assurance, ensure COLREGS adherence, and build operator trust in advanced mission autonomy
• Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Collaboration – Develop distributed optimization and task allocation approaches for heterogenous teaming in order to accomplish mission objectives by maximally utilizing the diverse capabilities of agents to overall team advantage
• Rigorous Software Development – Develop high-performance software modules that are well-tested, have clear interfaces and span-of-control, and are ready for mid-to-high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) insertions
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Collaborate with cross-functional teams including perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and operational test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms
• Deployment & Attention – Deploy autonomy capabilities to real surface vehicles, supporting integration and demonstration events as well as analysis of mission logs to verify software performance and validate system operational effect
• R&D and Road-mapping – Contribute to autonomy roadmaps by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI's mission
• Travel Requirement – Members of this team typically travel around 25% of the year (to different office locations, customer sites, and flight integration events)

Skills

C++

Python

Robotics

Clearance eligibility

Education

BS/MS in CS/EE/ME/AE or equivalent

Tools

AFSIM

NGTS

Job description

Shield AI in the United States seeks a Senior Software Engineer to develop and deploy end‑to‑end maritime autonomy features for USVs, UUVs, and cooperating UAVs. Location options include Boston, MA; Washington, DC; San Diego, CA; and Dallas, TX.

Compensation ranges from $160,000 to $240,000 USD per year. The Autonomy Capabilities team integrates advanced control, motion planning, and multi‑agent coordination, with strong emphasis on real‑world integration and TRL progress.