Staff Engineer, Safety-Critical Software (R5826)

Shieldai; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Benefits

Equity

Job summary

Shield AI in San Diego seeks a senior Safety-Critical Software Engineer to design and deliver high-performance, safety-critical software for autonomous systems. You will lead architecture decisions, mentor engineers, and collaborate across teams to ensure safe, certifiable operation of flight software.

The role requires extensive C++ experience, real-time expertise, and familiarity with airworthiness standards.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree (or 9 with a Master’s; or 7 with a PhD).
• Demonstrated excellence in designing and developing C++ safety-critical software with Real-Time guarantees.
• Experience mentoring other engineers to drive software quality.
• Experience integrating software on real-world physical systems and improving performance.
• Deep expertise in C++ architecture design patterns and practical implementation.
• Strong knowledge of DO-178C and MIL-HDBK-516.
• Strong Git and Linux development skills, with CI/CD practices.
• Track record of technical leadership and guiding teams through complex challenges.

Responsibilities

• Drive architecture, development, integration and testing of an extensible Run-Time Assurance module for safe autonomous operation.
• Collaborate with Foundations to integrate with low-assurance mission-autonomy software and high-assurance middleware.
• Specialize and test RTA across diverse platforms to ensure robust fail-safe behavior.
• Promote principled software development practices including code analysis, audit trails, and ADRs.
• Create artefacts for certifiability: ADRs, ICDs, system models, and documentation.
• Mentor Foundations engineers on safe software development practices to raise quality.

Skills

C++

Safety-critical

Real-Time

Git

Linux

CI/CD

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

MISRA C++

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.

Job Description:

The Hivemind Foundations team is an agile group of engineers focused on building a state-of-the-art Autonomy Software Development Kit (SDK) that enables resilient autonomy and intelligence for a wide range of platforms in diverse environments. The Safety-Critical Software Team in Hivemind Foundations is responsible for developing safety augmentation capabilities against strict airworthiness development standards for Hivemind Foundations. This allows Hivemind Enterprise customers to develop and fly cutting-edge autonomy solutions with confidence, with a clear path to certification.

As a member of the Safety-Critical Software Team, you will work with a group of engineers to develop cutting-edge safety-critical, high-performance and robust software that serves as a safety monitor between the low-assurance mission autonomy system and the flight control system, bounding unsafe behavior and ensuring safe flight. You will work closely with talented engineers to architect and develop core systems, set standards for software engineering and mentor other engineers.

Responsibilities:

• Drive architecture, development, integration and testing of an extensible, configurable Run-Time Assurance (RTA) module that ensures safe operation of autonomous systems in diverse, adversarial conditions.
• Work closely with other engineers in Foundations to design and integrate with the low-assurance mission-autonomy software and high-assurance middleware.
• Specialize, integrate and test the RTA capability on a diverse set of platforms in various conditions to ensure robust fail-safe behavior.
• Drive principled software development practices across Foundations including but not limited to code analysis, audit trail, principled review processes.
• Collaborate with the team to generate artifacts that enable certifiability of Foundations software, including but not limited to static & dynamic analysis reports, software documentation, architecture decision records (ADRs), interface control diagrams (ICDs), system models.
• Mentor and guide Foundations developers on practices of safe software development to enhance software quality and assurance.

Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years with a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
• Demonstrated excellence in designing and developing C++ based safety-critical software systems with Real-Time guarantees.
• Experience working as a mentor to other engineers in a role driving software best practices to enhance software quality.
• Experience integrating software on real-world physical systems and driving up performance and reliability.
• Deep expertise in C++ software architecture design patterns and their practical implementation.
• Strong knowledge of software assurance certifications such as DO-178C and MIL-HDBK-516.
• Strong Git and Linux development skills, along with modern software development practices (e.g., CI/CD, test-driven development).
• A track record of technical leadership, with the ability to set and maintain high standards, guide teams through complex technical challenges, and collaborate effectively.

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience developing against strict C++ coding standards (e.g., MISRA C++, JSF AV C++)
• Hands-on experience with airworthiness certifications such as MIL-HDBK-516, DO-178C.
• Experience taking a solution through a certification process and achieving a certification.

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.