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
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
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials describe excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside a mental‑health EAP. Site perks such as an onsite gym in DC and a gym discount in San Diego support a health‑focused offering.
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Retirement Support — Careers materials highlight a 401(k) with company match as part of the standard package. A Total Rewards overview emphasizes retirement features within a broader, transparent compensation view.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation for in‑demand technical and senior go‑to‑market roles is described as competitive, with visible engineering ranges and top‑end packages. This points to meaningful upside tied to role, level, and scarce skills.
Shield AI Insights
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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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
