Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Emerging Domains (R5398)

Shield AI; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI in the United States is seeking engineers to lead autonomy integration for Emerging Domains, expanding autonomy capabilities to new platforms, including space, maritime, and contested logistics.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to define technical direction, translate R&D into scalable programs, and deliver mission-critical autonomy software end-to-end from concept to live testing.

Job description

Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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 Autonomous Pilot Integration team for Emerging Domains builds autonomy solutions for new platforms and mission profiles outside Shield AI's established portfolios—including space (satellites, missile defense), maritime (USV and UUV integration), and contestedlogistics(unmanned helicopters and related autonomous resupply platforms). The team takes on short-term R&D and integration efforts—often standing up the first autonomy on a brand-new platform or mission—with the intent that successful efforts grow into larger, multi-year programs. We combine capabilities from the Autonomy Capabilities team (motion planning, tactics), the Perception team (e.g.,ViDAR, ATR), and theHivemindSDK—selectivelyleveragingexisting Shield AI autonomy solutions where they apply—to develop autonomy that runs on these new platforms. Our engineers write new autonomy code—such as mission behaviors, platform-specific control, multi-agent coordination, contingencies, and executive autonomy—and own it end-to-end from software-in-the-loop, to hardware-in-the-loop, to vehicle-in-the-loop, to live test exercise.

In this role, you\'ll define the technical direction for Emerging Domains, guiding autonomy strategy across multiple new platforms and mission areas while helping transform early-stage R&D efforts into scalable, long-term programs. You\'ll solve the organization\'s most complex technical challenges, influence engineering strategy across organizations, and partner with engineering leadership, platform teams, and customer stakeholders to shape the future of Shield AI\'s next generation of autonomy portfolios.