UAV Autonomy & Perception Manager

Shieldai

Washington (District of Columbia)

On-site

USD 180,000 - 230,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus

Job summary

Shield AI seeks a senior manager to lead technical teams focused on perception for autonomous aircraft. You will design and implement real-time detection, sensor fusion, and state estimation using EO/IR cameras, radars, and IMUs, ensuring reliable performance in challenging environments.

You will guide cross‑functional teams, review ICDs, and optimize pipelines for simulation and live flight. A strong background in ML frameworks and airborne sensing is essential, with travel expected for

Qualifications

BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or equivalent practical experience.
5+ years of experience in Unmanned Systems programs in the DoD or applied R&D.
2+ years of people leadership experience.
Experience with Kalman Filters, multi-target tracking, or deep learning-based detection models.

Responsibilities

Lead multidisciplinary teams across autonomy, integration, and testing.
Develop advanced perception algorithms for object detection, classification, and tracking.
Implement sensor fusion frameworks using radar, EO/IR, and other sensors.
Develop state estimation for localization and navigation using IMU, GPS, vision data.
Interpret ICDs and hardware specs for sensor data handling and synchronization.
Optimize perception pipelines for real-time performance in simulation and on aircraft.
Collaborate with autonomy, systems, and integration teams to connect perception outputs to planning and decision-making.
Validate algorithms with synthetic data, simulation environments, and flight tests.
Work with hardware teams to ensure seamless integration with onboard compute and payloads.
Travel ~10-15% of the year for office sites, customer sites, and flight tests.