Our Applications Engineers are highly technical, customer-facing problem solvers who play a critical role in deploying Shield AI’s Hivemind software in real-world environments. This role is travel-intensive, with frequent trips, often international, and sometimes lasting multiple weeks, to work directly alongside customers on-site.
This is primarily a Senior-level role, and we’re typically looking for candidates with several years of relevant industry experience. That said, we will consider exceptional mid-level engineers who demonstrate strong technical fundamentals, a hands-on mindset, and a track record of taking initiative in dynamic, customer-driven environments
In this role, you will work closely with customers to understand their requirements, provide technical expertise during deployment, and ensure successful integration of our AI and autonomy products. You’ll also collaborate internally with engineering teams, with opportunities to grow into technical leadership over time.
You Should Apply If:
- You’re excited about a travel-heavy role and enjoy being on-site with customers, including international and multi-week engagements
- You’re a strong technical contributor (or early in your career and eager to grow) who takes initiative and figures things out
- You enjoy problem solving, building relationships, and working at the intersection of engineering and real-world deployment
- You’re passionate about autonomy, robotics, or aerospace
You Should Not Apply If:
- You prefer minimal travel or want to work primarily from a single location
- You want to do 100% R&D and don’t enjoy customer interactions
- You’ve never programmed in C, C++, or Rust
What you'll do:
- Deploy with customers on site globally (~50% travel) to support software integration and development activities.
- Become an expert user of the Hivemind enterprise software stack and its various autonomy modules.
- Provide technical support and training to customers.
- Develop AI & Autonomy applications using the Shield AI enterprise software development kit
- Assist the sales team in pre-sales activities, e.g., demos, conferences, immersions
- Assist in post-sales deployment and integration of Shield AI enterprise software products.
- Develop and maintain technical documentation and training materials.
- Help customers debug software/API integration issues.
- Collaborate with the product engineering team to address customer feedback and improve products.
Required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
- 5+ years of experience of industry experience
- 2+ years of experience in an integration/applications engineering role
- 2+ years of experience working in a startup environment.
- Strong technical background in software engineering.
- Strong proficiency in writing modern C++ code.
- Intermediate proficiency in writing Python code.
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience in the defense aviation or robotics industry.
- Experience building and running a small enterprise software applications/solutions engineering team.
- Advanced technical degree, especially in robotics or autonomy related fields
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- 5+ years of industry experience
- 2+ years in an integration/applications engineering role
- 2+ years working in a startup environment
- Strong technical background in software engineering
- Strong proficiency writing modern C++ code
- Intermediate proficiency in Python
- Experience programming in C, C++, or Rust
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Willingness to travel ~50% including international and multi-week customer deployments
- Experience in the defense aviation or robotics industry
- Experience building and running a small enterprise software applications/solutions engineering team
- Advanced technical degree, especially in robotics or autonomy related fields
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage includes medical, dental, vision, and mental-health support, with company materials describing excellent coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are comprehensive and consistently highlighted across official and third-party benefit lists.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full-time hires, with RSU structures and tools like Carta Tax intended to improve understanding and tax timing. Feedback suggests this broad-based ownership approach is a notable component of total rewards.
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Parental & Family Support — Benefits include paid parental leave, fertility support, childcare benefits, family medical leave, and onsite resources such as a Mother's Room. Feedback suggests the family-oriented offerings are more expansive than basic coverage.
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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
