What you'll do:
- Develop and implement advanced state estimation algorithms, including inertial navigation, sensor fusion, and alternative navigation techniques for denied environments.
- Design and optimize state estimation frameworks to integrate data from IMUs, GNSS receivers, visual odometry, magnetometers, barometers, and radar systems.
- Build real-time sensor processing pipelines for UAV platforms, focusing on robustness, accuracy, and failover performance.
- Collaborate with autonomy, software, and hardware teams to ensure seamless integration of state estimation components within larger autonomous systems.
- Lead simulation, lab testing, and field validation of state estimation algorithms to assess performance under varying operational conditions.
- Stay on the forefront of navigation and state estimation innovation—adapting emerging technologies and research into deployable, mission-ready solutions.
Required qualifications:
- Typically requires a minimum of 12 years of relevant experience with a bachelor’s degree; or 10 years with a master’s degree; or a PhD with 8 years of experience; or equivalent practical experience.
- Deep experience developing real-time navigation and/or sensor fusion algorithms with IMUs, GPS, and other sensors.
- Strong understanding of state estimation techniques (e.g., Kalman filters, extended and unscented variants, particle filters, etc.).
- Proficiency with C++11 or newer; experience with real-time operating environments.
- Comfort with Linux, scripting, and standard development tools.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills; ability to work across engineering disciplines and with external partners.
- Proven track record of successfully shipping products, showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions to meet project deadlines and exceed expectations in a fast-paced environment.
- You have a demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience developing and implementing inertial navigation solutions for GPS-denied or degraded environments.
- Knowledge of computer vision techniques
- Proficiency in optimizing algorithms for compute-constrained systems
- Experience with CUDA or other hardware acceleration technologies (e.g. FPGAs)
- Proven track record of transitioning from R&D to production
Skills Required
- Minimum of 12 years (BS) or 10 years (MS) or 8 years (PhD) relevant experience, or equivalent practical experience
- Deep experience developing real-time navigation and/or sensor fusion algorithms with IMUs, GPS/GNSS, and other sensors
- Strong understanding of state estimation techniques (Kalman filters, extended/unscented variants, particle filters)
- Proficiency with C++11 or newer
- Experience with real-time operating environments
- Comfortable with Linux, scripting, and standard development tools
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills; ability to work across engineering disciplines
- Proven track record of shipping products and delivering high-quality solutions in fast-paced environments
- Demonstrated strong teamwork, trustworthiness, and high professional standards
- Experience developing/implementing inertial navigation solutions for GPS-denied or degraded environments
- Knowledge of computer vision techniques
- Proficiency optimizing algorithms for compute-constrained systems
- Experience with CUDA or other hardware acceleration technologies (e.g., FPGAs)
- Proven track record transitioning from R&D to production
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, with dental/vision and mental‑health support, and ancillary protections like life and disability appearing in benefit summaries. The breadth and perceived affordability of coverage are highlighted as a standout component of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is featured alongside enhanced maternity benefits, fertility and childcare support, and onsite resources such as a Mother’s Room. These elements are positioned as competitive and above the minimal baseline for the company’s stage.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full‑time hires, with RSUs, double‑trigger tax timing, and tools to model scenarios (e.g., through Carta Tax). Communications also reference a transition from options to RSUs, reinforcing access and maturity of ownership programs.
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.
