The Human Machine Teaming (HMT) Group at Shield AI is hiring an Engineer II or Senior Engineer to join our HMT Operations capability. At Shield AI, HMT refers to the design, management, and assurance of the adaptive relationships between operators and Hivemind-enabled mission autonomy—not just an interface problem, or a function-allocation exercise. This role keeps our HMT research and development (R&D) grounded in work as it is actually done, with real operators, under real tempo.
Working alongside the HMT Operations Lead, who owns operator engagement, you will conduct field research with Shield AI pilots, operators, and customer or external subject matter experts (SMEs). You will translate what you find into updates for the collaborative work requirement profiles that our design and experimentation capabilities act upon, and carry HMT expertise into product lines and the field.
If you are equally comfortable in a squadron ready room, on a test range, and in a design review, this is your opportunity to make a lasting impact.
What you'll do:
- Plan and conduct field research using ethnographic methods, observation, knowledge elicitation, and cognitive task analysis with the customer, operators, and pilots.
- Conduct front-end human factors analyses to decompose the collaborative work that characterizes real operations.
- Produce mission threads, baseline use cases, and context-sensitive variants of baselines that drive design and experimentation.
- Support translation of operator needs into collaborative work requirement profiles in concert with other HMT staff.
- Support operational and readiness assessment exercises with fielded systems, including field testing under real tempo, degraded communications, and off-nominal events.
- Provide embedded HMT support within major product lines, aligned to Shield AI’s HMT strategy.
- Support HMT after-action review and debrief procedures, and feed lessons learned back into requirements profiles, risk assessments, HMI design, and training.
- Manage operator and SME engagement end to end, from scheduling and consent through data handling and participant feedback.
- Contribute to adoption playbooks and training content, and prepare trip reports and briefings containing product recommendations.
- Travel to company, test, demonstration, and customer locations to conduct project work (approximately 40%).
Required qualifications:
- Engineer II: typically requires a minimum of 2 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 0 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD without experience. Senior Engineer: typically requires a minimum of 3–5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 2–4 years and a Master's degree; or 2 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
- A degree in human factors engineering or psychology, cognitive systems engineering, applied cognitive science, industrial and systems engineering, or a related field, or equivalent operational experience.
- Demonstrated ability to plan and execute field studies or operational assessments with human participants, and report findings to engineering and operator/customer audiences.
- Working knowledge of human machine teaming, human factors, human performance, and training theory and measurement, including cognitive task analysis, knowledge elicitation, and needs analysis.
- Comfort working in operational environments such as flight lines, ranges, exercises, and customer sites, gathering good data without disrupting the mission.
- Experience in multidisciplinary settings, and ability to work in complex, ambiguous problem spaces and produce clear and structured artifacts.
- Strong teamwork and collaboration skills, and written and verbal communication skills.
Preferred qualifications:
- Operational background as aircrew, UAV operator, mission commander, or in intelligence or C2/battle management.
- Hands-on experience with human machine teaming, MUM-T, human-robot interaction, or applied artificial intelligence, specifically in mission autonomy applications such as UAV Groups 1–5.
- Experience with mission planning, C2, battle management, and UAV or pilot training concepts, processes, and doctrine, and with ground control stations or HMIs.
- Experience in scenario design, and with modeling and simulation tools and methods.
- Experience conducting operational or training exercises in immersive simulation environments, and with and with developmental or operational test and evaluation, or readiness assessments with fielded systems.
- Experience conducting after-action reviews, and generating lessons-learned or plans of action and milestones in a customer-facing or forward-deployed role.
- Experience with designing or delivering UAV operator or pilot crew operational training.
- Familiarity with traceability methods, or with AI assurance frameworks.
- Willingness to use agentic AI to speed the path from design concept to fielded product.
- U.S. DoD Secret clearance eligible, with the ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret, SCI, and/or SAP-level access. U.S. citizenship required.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree and 2 years of related experience for Engineer II, or 0 years with a master’s degree, or PhD without experience
- Bachelor’s degree and 3–5 years of related experience for Senior Engineer, or 2–4 years with a master’s degree, 2 years with a PhD, or equivalent experience
- Degree in human factors engineering, psychology, cognitive systems engineering, applied cognitive science, industrial and systems engineering, or a related field, or equivalent operational experience
- Ability to plan and execute field studies or operational assessments with human participants and report findings
- Working knowledge of human-machine teaming, human factors, human performance, training theory and measurement, cognitive task analysis, knowledge elicitation, and needs analysis
- Comfort working in flight lines, ranges, exercises, and customer operational environments
- Experience in multidisciplinary settings and ability to produce clear, structured artifacts in ambiguous problem spaces
- Strong teamwork, collaboration, written communication, and verbal communication skills
- Operational background as aircrew, UAV operator, mission commander, intelligence professional, or C2/battle-management specialist
- Experience with human-machine teaming, MUM-T, human-robot interaction, or applied AI in mission autonomy applications
- Experience with mission planning, C2, battle management, UAV or pilot training, doctrine, ground control stations, or HMIs
- Experience with scenario design and modeling and simulation tools and methods
- Experience with immersive simulation exercises, developmental or operational test and evaluation, or readiness assessments
- Experience conducting after-action reviews and generating lessons learned or plans of action and milestones
- Experience designing or delivering UAV operator or pilot crew operational training
- Familiarity with traceability methods or AI assurance frameworks
- Willingness to use agentic AI
- U.S. DoD Secret clearance eligibility and ability to obtain and maintain Top Secret, SCI, and/or SAP-level access
- U.S. citizenship
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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