Staff Software Engineer Autonomous Pilot Integration – Expeditionary (R5208)

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 clearance. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Group 3 UAS or VTOL aircraft.  

• Experience with custom autopilot integration.  

• EO/IR or ViDAR integration.  

• Long-endurance ISR missions.  

• Docker ARM embedded systems and CI/CD experience.  

• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives. 

What We Do

At Shield AI you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now in the hands of the people who depend on it.Hivemind our AI pilot has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms including an F-16 and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future.V-BAT flies intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real.X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career.Do the most impactful work of your life on problems that matter.Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception planning and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you.Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision every design review and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel.Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.

Why Work With Us

Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific protecting service members and civilians.

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