Senior Software Engineer, Space Autonomy & Missions

Shield AI; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build and own autonomy behaviors powering our products, from design through deployment. You’ll turn complex mission needs into reliable, scalable software and collaborate across teams to evolve autonomy capabilities across platforms.

You will work on multi-domain autonomy for satellites and space-defense applications, balancing near-term delivery with long-term maintainability, and you may travel 10–15% of the year to different office locations

Qualifications

• Proficiency in C++ and Python is required.
• Strong background in robotic control, motion planning or distributed decision-making.
• Experience with unmanned systems and related algorithms.
• Experience with simulation tools (AFSIM/NGTS or similar).
• Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills.
• Ability to obtain SECRET clearance or higher.

Responsibilities

• Develop autonomy behaviors from design to deployment for space/missile defense platforms.
• Implement high-performance software with clear interfaces and maintainability.
• Collaborate with perception, planning, simulation, hardware and flight-test teams.
• Support integration events and customer demos with robust software.

Skills

C++

Python

Tools

RTOS

AFSIM

NGTS

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to build and own autonomy behaviors powering our products, from design through deployment. You’ll turn complex mission needs into reliable, scalable software and collaborate across teams to evolve autonomy capabilities across platforms.

You will work on multi-domain autonomy for satellites and space-defense applications, balancing near-term delivery with long-term maintainability, and you may travel 10–15% of the year to different office locations