Workplace
On-site
Employment
Full-Time
Published
Jul 21, 2026
Closes
No date supplied
The role
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-BAT aircraft, 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.
Requirements
What You'll Do:: Lead Technical Delivery – Lead the technical execution of complex autonomy capabilities from architecture through field deployment, coordinating work across multiple engineering teams. Develop & Field Autonomy – Drive integration of mission autonomy, payloads, flight-control interfaces, executive autonomy, and multi-agent behaviors onto V-BAT and X-BAT. Aircraft Team Partnership – Serve as a primary technical partner to the Aircraft team, defining integration approaches, resolving interface issues, and ensuring mission readiness. Cross-Team Technical Leadership – Partner across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, Strategic Systems (ACP), and feature crews to solve complex systems integration challenges. Systems Architecture & Integration – Influence architecture, interface design, and integration strategy across multiple subsystems. Design & Engineering Excellence – Lead design reviews, contribute to ICDs, mentor engineers, and improve engineering rigor. Mission Readiness & Field Support – Drive release readiness while supporting flight tests, customer demonstrations, and operational deployments. Continuous Improvement – Improve integration workflows, testing infrastructure, and engineering productivity. C2 Interoperability & Standards – Drive implementation of GCS and C2 interfaces using common open-systems standards. 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. Required Qualifications:: BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent experience. 7+ years of relevant experience. Expert C++ and Linux development experience. Experience leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration efforts. Experience influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams. Experience supporting operational test events or customer deployments. Ability to obtain a SECRET cl