Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Maritime (R5363)

AI Chopping Block; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer to lead the Autonomy Capabilities Team in advancing multi-agent autonomy for USVs, UUVs, and cooperative UAVs. You will drive system-level design, mentor engineers, and ensure robust software that meets demanding mission needs.

The role emphasizes integrating traditional control methods with optimization and advanced ML/RL, while balancing theory and practical implementation across real-world platforms.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience with unmanned systems and related algorithms is encouraged.
• Strong background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, or autonomous system design.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical direction for the maritime autonomy portfolio across multiple programs.
• Develop and integrate autonomy capabilities for USVs, UUVs, and cooperating UAVs.
• Advance motion planning, localization, and shared perception across heterogeneous teams.
• Mentor engineers and decompose customer needs into concrete design approaches.
• Collaborate with perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and operational test teams.
• Deploy autonomy capabilities to real surface and unmanned systems and analyze mission logs.
• Contribute to autonomy roadmaps and prototype new algorithms to close capability gaps.
• Travel approximately 25% of the year for offices, customer sites, and integration events.

Skills

C++

Python

RTOS

Robotics

Problem-solving

Communication

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science / Electrical Engineering / Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering or equivalent

Tools

AFSIM

NGTS

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.

The Autonomy Capabilities Team develops functionality to automate single- and multi-agent teams of platforms in pursuit of mission objectives and acts as a central discipline-aligned focal-point for encouraging consistent usage of technical approaches across business portfolios. This team operates at all levels of the command-and-control hierarchy (from advanced control laws, through motion planning, and up to advanced tactical behaviors and multi-agent coordination) and across a multitude of mission sets, platform types, and operational domains (e.g., air, sea, space). The team puts a strong emphasis on both fundamentals (e.g., aircraft kinematics/dynamics, trajectory design, optimization, information fusion, efficient algorithms, etc.) and software integration skillsets (e.g. structures, protocols, threading, interface management, etc.) to bring market-differentiating capabilities to customers that seamlessly operate within their integration contexts.

This position is perfect for an individual who enjoys solving complex problems across a diverse set of programs and integration contexts. An ideal candidate is expected to address operational system needs through a multitude of advanced methodologies that blend traditional control system approaches with advanced optimization. Developed solutions are expected to be integrated into real-world platforms with near-term program impacts and rewards and so balancing theory with practice and rigorous implementation is paramount.

About the Job:

• Focusing on the maritime portfolio,you’llbecreating autonomy capabilities forUSVs,UUVs, and cooperating UAVsthat enable them to perform advanced single- and multi-agent teamingmissionsbeyond conventional motion planning and waypoint following.The functionality you add will enable teams to use their diverse payloads and maneuvering characteristics tosearch for,localize,andpursuetargets while avoiding sensed threats and obstacles that pose a risk to platform safety.In many of these applications,you’llhave the opportunity to build capabilities from the ground up and be the first to integrate them onto new platforms.You’lltraditionally start with shorter-term R&D efforts or aligned customer programs but with the intent that successful efforts will grow into larger, multi-year programs.
  

• As a Senior Staff Engineer, you will lead the technical direction for the portfolio, driving the evolution of autonomy capabilities and architectures across multiple programs.At this level, you’ll combine your deep technical expertise and systems level thinking to not only provide capabilities that meet the needs of the now, but to anticipate the needs of the future to ensure long-term portfolio success.You’ll take an active role in mentoring engineers across the organization and be a key expert that leadership leans-on for decomposing ambiguous customer needs into tangible design approaches.

What you'll do:

• RobustMotion Planning–Automate unmanned surface vehicle (USV)and/or unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)maneuvering throughadvanced motion planningandadherence to safety constraints includingkeep-out volumes, cooperative and uncooperative vehicles,anddepth limitations

• Localization andTracking–Employcutting edgeapproaches forpassiveand activelocalizationbydefiningfusionmodalities, sensor requirements, andobservability-aware maneuvering capabilitiesto maximizeinformation gleaned from single- or multi-agent sensor networks

• Safe Maritime Operations–Keep vehiclesafetyas a central focus within autonomous behavior architectures toprovide run-time assurance, ensureCOLREGSadherence, andbuild operator trust in advanced mission autonomy

• Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Collaboration– Develop distributed optimization and task allocation approaches for heterogenous teamingin ordertoaccomplishmissionobjectivesby maximallyutilizingthe 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 includingperception, planning, simulation, hardware, andoperationaltest to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms

• Deployment & TestSupport– Deploy autonomy capabilities to realsurfacevehicles, supportingintegration and demonstration events as well asanalysis ofmissionlogs to verify softwareperformanceandvalidatesystem operational effect

• R&D and Road-mapping– Contribute to autonomy roadmapsby researching and prototyping new algorithms,identifyingtactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission

• Travel Requirement– Members of this team typically travel around25%of the year (to different office locations, customer sites, and flight integration events).

Required Qualifications:

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python, and familiarity with real-time operating systems (RTOS).
• Significant background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, decision-making, or autonomous system design.
• Significant experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (ideally in the space domain specifically)
• Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for testing and validation.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot and optimize system performance.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experiencein multiple aerospace domains (e.g., air, land, sea, space)
• Experience across a breadth of methodologies from classical control through optimization and appliedML/RL
• Background in collaborative behaviorsandswarm robotics
• Familiarity withdomain-relevantDoD or government programs
• Hands-on experience supportingintegration events, customer demos, and/orlive exercises