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

Shieldai; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking an experienced engineering leader to define the technical direction for the Launched Effects portfolio, guiding autonomy architecture, mission integration, and fleet‑scale deployments across multiple programs.

You will collaborate with Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, and external vendors to deliver robust autonomy capabilities that operate reliably in complex operational environments.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of relevant engineering experience.
• Expert-level C++ and Linux systems development experience.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and driving engineering excellence across an organization.

Responsibilities

• Define the long‑term technical direction for the Launched Effects portfolio and drive scalable fleet operations across programs.
• Develop and field mission autonomy, platform interfaces, and multi‑agent coordination while ensuring operational delivery.
• Lead cross‑functional architecture reviews, interface standards, ICDs, and post‑mortems to raise engineering rigor.
• Mentor staff and senior engineers, develop technical leaders, and influence hiring decisions.
• Guide capability release planning and fleet‑scale deployment strategies across programs.

Skills

C++

Linux development

Technical strategy

Mentoring engineers

Security clearance

Education

BS/MS in engineering

Tools

UCI

OMS

MOSA

WOSA

TAK/CoT

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 Autonomous Pilot Integration team for launched effects builds autonomy solutions for small, often air- or ground-launched platforms thatoperatein multi-agent fleets andfrequentlyin disconnected or air-gapped environments. We combine capabilities from the Autonomy Capabilities team (motion planning, tactics), the Perception team (e.g., track fusion), and theHivemindSDKto develop the autonomy software that runs on launched effects platforms, then integrate, validate, and field it on the real hardware—for U.S. and international defense customers. 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'lldefine the technical direction for the Launched Effects portfolio, driving the evolution of autonomy architecture across multiple programs while ensuring scalable, mission-ready solutions for fleet-scale operations.You'llsolve the organization's most complex integration challenges, influence long-term technical strategy, and partner with engineering leadership, the Autonomy Capabilities and Perception teams, autopilot vendors, C2 providers, and customer stakeholders to deliver autonomy capabilities that perform reliably in operational environments.

Technical Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

Define the long-term technical direction for the Launched Effects portfolio; drive common integration patterns, architecture, and engineering strategy that enable scalable fleet operations across current and future programs.

Develop & Field Autonomy

Guide the development and integration of mission autonomy, platform interfaces, executive autonomy, multi-agent coordination, and fleet-scale deployment capabilities while ensuring successful operational delivery across launched effects programs.

Collaboration Across Teams & Partners

Build strong technical partnerships across the Autonomy Capabilities team, Perception team, feature crews, autopilot vendors, C2 providers, customer organizations, and engineering leadership; influence architecture and technical direction beyond the portfolio.

Design & Documentation

Lead cross-functional architecture reviews, interface standards, ICDs, and post-mortems while raising engineering rigor and technical consistency across multiple organizations.

Mentorship & Organizational Growth

Mentor Staff and Senior engineers, develop future technical leaders, contribute to engineering standards and leveling, and partner with managers on senior hiring.

Pre-deployment Preparation

Guide Capability Release planning, fleet-scale deployment strategies, mission validation, and operational readiness across multiple programs.

On-site Test & Mission Support

Provide senior technical leadership during critical flight tests, customer demonstrations, and operational exercises where deep systems integration expertise isrequired.

Hardware/Software Debugging

Lead resolution of the organization's most complex autonomy integration challenges spanning software, embedded systems, networking, platform interfaces, and operational environments.

Mission Data & Debrief Support

Drive post-mission analysis,identifysystemic improvements, and influence long-term technical investments based on operational learnings.

Continuous Improvement

Drive organization-wide improvements to engineering processes, testing infrastructure, integration workflows, developer experience, and mission reliability.

C2 Interoperability & Standards

Define technical strategy for command-and-control interoperability; shape interface evolution with internal and external stakeholders while driving adoption of common message and open-systems standards (e.g., UCI, OMS, MOSA, WOSA, TAK/CoT).

Hiring &DevelopingTechnical Talent

Define the technical hiring bar for senior engineering roles, partner with engineering managers on long-term staffing strategy, and help grow the organization's technical capabilities.

Travel Requirement

Members of this team typically travel around 10–20% of the year to different office locations, customer sites, operator training events, flight tests, and integration exercises.

• BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience.
• Typically requires 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Expert-level C++ and Linux systems development experience.
• Demonstrated experience defining technical strategy across multiple engineering teams or programs.
• Proventrack recordinfluencing architecture and solvinghighly complexautonomy integration challenges.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and driving engineering excellence across an organization.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.

• Extensive experience with launched effects, autonomous systems, or distributed robotic platforms.
• Experience defining autopilot integration strategies and multi-agent autonomy architectures.
• Experience leading fleet-scale or disconnected operational deployments.
• Experience with military operational testing and international defense customers.
• Experience with UCI, OMS, MOSA, WOSA, TAK/CoT, or similar open architectures.
• Experience shaping engineering practices across multiple teams or organizations.

Full-time regular employee offer package:

Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed toequal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.