Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation

Posted 8 Minutes Ago
Be an Early Applicant
San Diego, CA, USA
In-Office
136K-204K Annually
Entry level
Aerospace • Artificial Intelligence • Machine Learning • Robotics • Software • Defense Technology
Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Become an expert user of Shield AI’s Hivemind Enterprise autonomy platform and create clear technical documentation, tutorials, diagrams, and workflow guides. Collaborate with developers and Customer Engagement teams to document product functionality, select documentation tools, and connect autogenerated API documentation with user guides. The role requires robotics and autonomy knowledge, C++ proficiency, strong technical writing, Linux experience, and effective cross-functional communication.
Summary Generated by Built In
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. 

The Hivemind Division of Shield AI seeks a highly skilled and detail-oriented Autonomy Engineer with Technical Writing Skills to join our team. The ideal candidate will have a background in software engineering and robotics and be able to become a superuser of our Hivemind Enterprise product: a software product that enables scalable design, deployment, evaluation, and iteration of autonomy architectures for a wide range of robotic platforms. This role requires you to be able to work cross-functionally with developers across engineering teams and learn to use the Hivemind SDK product, then draft your knowledge into well-written technical documentation and clearly communicated tutorials capable of being followed by customers with wide differences in skills and level of experience. 

What you'll do:

  • Become an expert user of the Hivemind Enterprise product.
  • Contribute to the selection of documentation creation platforms and tools.
  • Work with developers and our Customer Engagement team to generate technical writing to describe product functionalities.
  • Generate diagrams, flow charts, and other visual aids to describe supported workflows.
  • Devise a strategy for connecting auto-generated API documentation with hand-written user guides.

Required qualifications:

  • Background in robotics and autonomy.
  • Coding proficiency with C++.
  • Highly proficient at technical writing (academic papers, technical tutorials, software product documentation, etc.).
  • Strong understanding of what excellence in software product documentation looks like.
  • Comfortable working in a Linux environment.
  • Fast thinker, fast doer, able to generate results rapidly with minimal input in order to unblock iteration.
  • Excellent communicator. 

Preferred qualifications:

  • Familiar with software engineering practices with regards to software versioning, packaging, deployment.
  • Experience within the aviation and/or aerospace industry.

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.
 
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal 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. 

Skills Required

  • Background in robotics and autonomy
  • Coding proficiency with C++
  • Highly proficient technical writing, including academic papers, tutorials, or software documentation
  • Strong understanding of excellent software product documentation
  • Comfort working in a Linux environment
  • Ability to work rapidly and independently with minimal input
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Familiarity with software versioning, packaging, and deployment
  • Experience in aviation or aerospace

What the Team is Saying

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Shield Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are described as strong and affordable, and offerings include a mental-health assistance program. Overall impressions point to good plan value for many employees.
  • Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer matching is highlighted positively, with accounts describing a company match and favorable experiences. Current match formulas and vesting are noted as worth confirming.
  • Equity Value & Accessibility — Full-time hires receive equity (often via RSUs), positioned as a meaningful component of total rewards. A double-trigger structure is noted as potentially deferring taxes until a liquidity event.

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The Company
HQ: San Diego, CA
Year Founded: 2015

What We Do

At Shield 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 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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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

Typical time on-site: Flexible
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