Senior Software Architect, Ground Systems

Shield; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Software Systems Engineer to define, develop, integrate, and validate complex software systems in support of its mission. The role requires deep software expertise, MBSE concepts, and strong collaboration with cross-functional teams to meet system-level requirements.

The candidate will lead architecture discussions, manage requirements traceability, and contribute to verification, validation, and program objectives across mission-critical platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field.
• 8+ years of software engineering experience.
• 3+ years in software architecture or technical leadership.
• Proficiency in a strongly typed programming language (e.g. C#, TypeScript, Java, C++) with exposure to lower-level systems or protocol integration.
• Familiarity with SDLC methodologies.
• Understanding of systems engineering processes and standards.
• Experience with requirements management and traceability practices.
• Experience using version control and CI/CD tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop software architectures for complex, distributed, and mission-critical systems.
• Engage in software design activities from concept through deployment and sustainment.
• Model architecture diagrams to support government reference architectures and customer deliverables.
• Collaborate with systems engineers to derive software requirements from system-level needs and ensure traceability.
• Participate in architecture trade studies and technical decision-making activities.
• Work with hardware, network, test, and integration teams to ensure end-to-end system performance.

Skills

Software Architecture

Systems Engineering

Programming Languages

Requirements Management

SDLC Knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Cameo Systems Modeler

IBM DOORS Next

Jama Connect

JIRA

Confluence

Job description

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Software Systems Engineer to define, develop, integrate, and validate complex software systems in support of its mission. The role requires deep software expertise, MBSE concepts, and strong collaboration with cross-functional teams to meet system-level requirements.

The candidate will lead architecture discussions, manage requirements traceability, and contribute to verification, validation, and program objectives across mission-critical platforms.