Senior Staff ML & Vision Architect (Defense Autonomy)

Shield; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 235,000 - 352,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a senior machine learning scientist to design, train, and optimize state-of-the-art vision models for autonomous systems. You will develop scalable data pipelines, supervise model training, and deploy optimized models on embedded hardware using ONNX and TensorRT.

Ideal candidates bring extensive experience in computer vision, C++, Python, and a SECRET clearance. You will collaborate with perception, autonomy, and software teams to deliver mission-ready capabilities and

Qualifications

• Typically requires a high level of ML fundamentals and production ML experience.
• Experience training and deploying computer vision models in production.
• Proficiency in C++ and Python with strong analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Model Development – design, train, and maintain vision models for autonomous systems.
• Data Pipelines & Training – build scalable data pipelines and evaluation loops.
• Model Deployment & Optimization – deploy models on embedded hardware with ONNX/TensorRT.
• Perception & Autonomy Applications – apply ML to perception/autonomy tasks across systems.
• Research-to-Production – translate research into production-ready capabilities.
• Cross-functional Collaboration – work with perception, autonomy, platform, and software teams.
• Model Evaluation & Validation – develop benchmarks and failure-mode analyses.
• Continuous Improvement – improve training infra and deployment workflows.

Skills

Machine learning fundamentals

C++

Python

Clearance (SECRET)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Master’s degree in a related field

PhD in a related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

ONNX

TensorRT

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a senior machine learning scientist to design, train, and optimize state-of-the-art vision models for autonomous systems. You will develop scalable data pipelines, supervise model training, and deploy optimized models on embedded hardware using ONNX and TensorRT.

Ideal candidates bring extensive experience in computer vision, C++, Python, and a SECRET clearance. You will collaborate with perception, autonomy, and software teams to deliver mission-ready capabilities and