The Hivemind Software Engineering Integration and Test team is seeking a Senior Automated Test Engineer to design, develop, and scale advanced automated testing and CI/CD infrastructure for our next-generation autonomy platform. You will help develop test frameworks that enable this software ecosystem to create, test and deploy resilient autonomy capabilities for unmanned aircraft and robotic platforms operating in complex, contested, and GPS-denied environments. You will work with a robust suite of autonomy and mission software components, including production flight code, simulation and synthetic environment tooling, mission planning and orchestration systems, operator-facing Ground Control Station (GCS) applications, telemetry and data pipelines, and cloud-native developer infrastructure.
In this role, you will help ensure the reliability, scalability, and quality of the Hivemind ecosystem through advanced automation, validation infrastructure, and AI-assisted engineering workflows. You will develop automated test frameworks, CI/CD systems, and verification tooling that support distributed autonomy software spanning onboard edge compute, APIs, web-based operator interfaces, simulation environments, and hardware-in-the-loop systems. Working closely with software, autonomy, simulation, and systems engineering teams, you will contribute to a high-assurance development environment focused on mission-critical reliability, rapid iteration, and engineering excellence. The ideal candidate has strong experience in Python-based automation, distributed systems testing, developer tooling, and modern CI/CD practices, along with an interest in autonomy, aerospace, robotics, or safety-critical software systems. Experience leveraging AI-assisted development and intelligent automation tools to accelerate testing, debugging, analytics, and developer productivity is highly valued.
What You'll Do:
Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks for Autonomy and UI applications.
Develop scalable automated test infrastructure for functional, integration, regression, system, and end-to-end testing across distributed software and hardware environments.
Create and maintain CI/CD pipelines in GitLab using YAML configurations and shell scripting to support automated build, test, and deployment workflows.
Build workflow automation tools and utilities in Python to improve test execution efficiency, reporting, environment setup, and developer productivity.
Develop and maintain UI and API test automation using Go and TypeScript for modern web-based operator interfaces and mission control applications.
Integrate automated testing into continuous integration environments to support rapid software delivery and high reliability standards.
Collaborate closely with software, autonomy, simulation, and systems engineering teams to define verification strategies and improve software quality throughout the development lifecycle.
Develop automated validation solutions for safety-critical and mission-critical aerospace software systems.
Create test harnesses, simulators, stubs, and mocks to support automated verification in both simulated and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments.
Analyze test results, troubleshoot failures, and work with development teams to isolate root causes and improve system reliability.
Improve test coverage, execution speed, maintainability, and observability of automated test systems.
Contribute to software quality standards, coding best practices, and automation architecture decisions.
Maintain clear technical documentation for test frameworks, automation workflows, CI/CD infrastructure, and validation procedures.
Support release qualification activities and ensure traceability between requirements, tests, and verification results where applicable.
Represent the Integration and Test Role in design reviews and advocate for a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement.
Develop AI-assisted engineering workflows and analytics tools using modern coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, and related LLM-based development platforms to improve test generation, failure triage, debugging, and developer productivity.
Design intelligent automation pipelines that leverage AI-assisted code generation, log analysis, test analysis, and workflow orchestration to accelerate software verification and validation processes.
Evaluate and integrate emerging AI-driven software engineering tools into automated test and CI/CD ecosystems while maintaining reliability, traceability, and engineering quality standards.
Required Qualifications:
5+ years of experience building scalable, maintainable automation frameworks and/or developer tooling in Python.
5+ years of experience working with package management, dependency management, and build systems using tools such as conan, pip, setuptools, poetry, and nix or similar.
5+ years of experience building tooling for automated log collection, analytics, reporting, and failure triage.
Strong understanding of asynchronous and concurrent programming in Python for scalable automation and parallel test execution.
Experience developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using GitLab CI, YAML, and shell scripting.
Experience with automated testing of distributed systems, backend services, APIs, and web-based UIs.
Familiarity with modern test frameworks, automated validation strategies, and software quality methodologies.
Experience working in Linux-based development environments.
Strong debugging and problem-solving skills in complex software systems.
Excellent collaboration and communication skills in cross-functional engineering environments.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience integrating Python with native C/C++ libraries and applications using bindings, wrappers, subprocess interfaces, or interoperability tooling.
Proficiency with Go and/or TypeScript for automation tooling or UI test development.
Experience with C++ development or testing.
Aerospace, robotics, autonomy, or safety-critical software experience.
Familiarity with simulation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), or embedded system testing.
Skills Required
- 5+ years building scalable, maintainable automation frameworks and/or developer tooling in Python
- 5+ years experience with package management, dependency management, and build systems (conan, pip, setuptools, poetry, nix or similar)
- 5+ years building tooling for automated log collection, analytics, reporting, and failure triage
- Strong understanding of asynchronous and concurrent programming in Python
- Experience developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using GitLab CI, YAML, and shell scripting
- Experience with automated testing of distributed systems, backend services, APIs, and web-based UIs
- Familiarity with modern test frameworks, automated validation strategies, and software quality methodologies
- Experience working in Linux-based development environments
- Strong debugging and problem-solving skills in complex software systems
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills in cross-functional engineering environments
- Experience integrating Python with native C/C++ libraries and applications (bindings, wrappers, subprocess, interoperability)
- Proficiency with Go and/or TypeScript for automation tooling or UI test development
- Experience with C++ development or testing
- Aerospace, robotics, autonomy, or safety-critical software experience
- Familiarity with simulation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), or embedded system testing
- Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools and LLM-based coding agents (e.g., Claude Code, Codex) to accelerate testing and triage
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Gallery
%203.jpg)
Shield AI Teams
.jpg)
Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
