Staff Engineer, Autonomy Factory & Testing Pipelines

Shield AI; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI in Washington, DC is seeking a Software Engineer on the HMS Factory Team to develop and maintain automated testing frameworks, log analysis tools, and scenario-generation scripts on the Hivemind Platform. You will enable hundreds of autonomy and systems developers to verify AI Pilot behaviors across our portfolio, navigating secure GovCloud and commercial networks.

You will write Python-based analytics libraries, adapters for HM Forge, and domain-randomization pipelines; contribute to

Qualifications

• Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong software development background in Python, particularly for data analysis, scripting, and automation tooling (NumPy, Pandas).
• Hands-on experience with automated test orchestration, CI/CD, simulation environments, and container-based architectures (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Solid software engineering fundamentals, including version control (Git), automated testing, and disciplined debugging in Linux.
• Familiarity with distributed compute frameworks or container orchestration tools is highly preferred.
• Strong technical problem-solving skills to troubleshoot complex asynchronous software systems.
• Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).

Responsibilities

• Write, optimize, and maintain advanced Python-based data analysis pipelines and custom analyzers to parse simulation runs, extract log data, and calculate mission performance metrics.
• Develop, debug, and maintain custom C++ or Python adapters and automated test orchestration wrappers around core HM Forge to satisfy program-specific validation requirements.
• Implement programmatic scenario-generation pipelines and write domain-randomization scripts to test autonomy behaviors under varied environmental conditions.
• Analyze simulation log files, rosbags, and network captures to isolate and debug autonomy software defects or simulator failures.
• Leverage generative AI tooling to accelerate the development and maintenance of analysis suites for HMS performance characterization.
• Build reusable agentic workflows that automate generation and evolution of analysis suites and data discovery.
• Build, test, and write Terraform or Kubernetes configuration files to prototype and deploy distributed orchestration templates on the Forge Server.
• Write reusable developer guides, API documentation, and workspace templates for automated simulation tests.
• Design and evolve telemetry ingestion, analysis, and reporting frameworks for consistent performance evaluation.

Skills

Python

CI/CD

Docker/Kubernetes

Git

Linux

Security clearance

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE/SE or equivalent

Tools

Hivemind Platform SDK

Terraform

Kubernetes

Job description

Shield AI in Washington, DC is seeking a Software Engineer on the HMS Factory Team to develop and maintain automated testing frameworks, log analysis tools, and scenario-generation scripts on the Hivemind Platform. You will enable hundreds of autonomy and systems developers to verify AI Pilot behaviors across our portfolio, navigating secure GovCloud and commercial networks.

You will write Python-based analytics libraries, adapters for HM Forge, and domain-randomization pipelines; contribute to