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Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Manage a team of engineers developing autonomy applications, focusing on customer use cases, operational readiness, and training material creation.
Summary Generated by Built In
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the 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:
As Manager of Autonomy Applications Engineering, you will lead a team of 4–5 engineers focused on developing internal demonstrations that reflect realistic customer use cases. Your team will act as the voice of the customer—building and validating Concepts of Operations (CONOPs) that demonstrate how our SDK is used in autonomy applications. Leveraging reference platforms and test environments, your team will ensure our solutions are operationally ready prior to customer engagement. In addition, the team will be responsible for developing advanced training content to help customers and internal teams gain deep proficiency in our SDK. A key motivator for the team is seeing customers successfully deploy autonomy applications in 120 days—a milestone that brings a deep sense of accomplishment and validates the team’s impact.
What you'll do:
- Manage and mentor a team of 4–5 applications engineers focused on customer-aligned workflows and solutions
- Lead cross-functional projects to build and maintain internal CONOPs that mirror real-world use of the SDK
- Work hands-on with reference autonomy platforms (e.g., quadcopters, UAV, simulations) to validate system functionality
- Act as the voice of the customer, turning field feedback into actionable insights for product and engineering teams
- Collaborate across product, engineering, and GTM teams to ensure our tools and demos anticipate customer needs
- Ensure internal validation and demonstration of features ahead of customer delivery
- Oversee the development and rollout of advanced technical training courses and materials
- Align demonstrations and training with the goal of enabling customers to achieve first deployment within 120 days
- Celebrate and share learnings from customer successes, reinforcing the team’s contribution to fast and effective adoption
- Track team performance, project milestones, and training delivery outcomes
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field
- 7+ years of industry experience, including:
- 2+ years in a customer-facing or autonomy-focused engineering role
- 2+ years leading technical teams or engineering projects
- Experience with autonomy platforms or robotic systems (hardware and/or simulation)
- Proficiency in C++ and working knowledge of Python
- Strong communication, organizational, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Ability to convert technical workflows into high-quality training and documentation
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience developing or validating autonomy software for aerial or ground robotics platforms
- Familiarity with concept development, mission rehearsal, or operational planning
- Experience creating and delivering technical training programs or enablement content
- Background in defense, aviation, or high-assurance embedded systems environments
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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
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- 7+ years of industry experience
- 2+ years in a customer-facing or autonomy-focused engineering role
- 2+ years leading technical teams or engineering projects
- Experience with autonomy platforms or robotic systems (hardware and/or simulation)
- Proficiency in C++
- Working knowledge of Python
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Shield AI and has not been reviewed or approved by Shield AI.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, spanning medical, dental, vision, mental‑health EAP, and optional pet insurance. Location‑based wellness perks such as onsite or discounted gym access reinforce the health offering.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is positioned as a standard component of total rewards for full‑time employees, with stock/RSUs noted across roles. Access appears broad‑based rather than limited to select cohorts.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time‑off programs highlight paid parental leave alongside an accrual‑based PTO structure with a high carryover cap. Flexibility elements such as flexible hours complement the core leave offering.
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The Company
What We Do
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide.
Why Work With Us
What makes Shield AI special is our people. We unlock the power of autonomy, and in the face of overwhelming odds and challenges, we find ways to win and make a difference for our customers. We bring together software, AI, and aerospace engineering disciplines to deploy the most intelligent aviation capabilities in the world.
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