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Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
The Role
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn,X, YouTubeand Instagram.
Software Integration & Operations (SIO) is a tightly integrated group of cross-functional engineers as our mission requires subject-matter expertise in software design & development, aircraft simulation, system integration & testing, and release engineering. Thus, SIO is composed of functions with breadth, depth, and track record of success across the range of expertise & experience warranted.
The primary mission of this group is to ensure all software products created by Aircraft SW & Autonomy can be developed, tested, and released to & accepted by end users as quickly as possible, without suffering in product quality. To do so, the group must also build solutions that allow our internal flight operation and manufacturing teams to efficiently operate & use our aircraft software products.
We are looking for an engineer leader to build and grow the new Applications team serving our daily aircraft flight and production operations. The Applications Engineering Manager will drive the design, implementation, and long-term sustainment of operational software tools that power internal and external aircraft operations. This individual will lead a small, high-impact team to deliver full-stack software solutions enabling capabilities such as OTA updates, operator training, maintenance management, and flight data analytics. They will collaborate cross-functionally across SIO, Ground Control Software, Customer Success, and Production teams to deeply understand user needs and translate them into scalable, integrated applications.
This role blends technical leadership, engineering execution, and team development—ideal for a full-stack engineer ready to guide architecture decisions, set engineering standards, and ensure long-term product ownership.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
- Lead Architecture & Execution: Define and drive end-to-end architecture of scalable applications (backend services, databases, UIs) supporting OTA, maintenance tracking, training tools, and more.
- Own Team Roadmap: Translate high-level charter goals into concrete deliverables, manage technical priorities, and track progress toward scalable, sustainable solutions.
- Build & Mentor: Grow and mentor a team of full-stack, application, and data engineers. Instill best practices in system design, testing, and deployment.
- Interface with Domain Stakeholders: Work directly with Customer Success and Production to build tools that address operational pain points, aligned with business workflows.
- Ensure Operational Excellence: Enforce system-level quality, security, traceability, and maintainability. Promote continuous integration and deployment practices.
- Collaborate Across SIO: Integrate your team’s tools with upstream and downstream systems including DevOps pipelines, Simulation environments, GCS user interfaces, and Test infrastructure.
- Sustain What You Build: Own the long-term reliability and maintainability of deployed software solutions.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum of 9 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a master’s degree; or 6 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
- Proven success as a people manager overseeing a team, challenged with fast-paced development
- High proficiency in full-stack development and modern design practices, ideally using modern web technologies (Typescript/React) and C++/Node/Python
- Experience building scalable web applications for use by non technical users
- Familiarity with CI/CD workflows, Docker, and cloud-based deployment (e.g., Azure, AWS).
- Strong technical judgment in architecture and design tradeoffs.
- Experience integrating multiple subsystems into cohesive human facing tools.
- Strong communication and leadership skills, capable of mentoring engineers and aligning stakeholders.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience building applications for aircraft operations and/or vehicle fleet sustainment
- Familiarity with manufacturing environments and standards for optimization
- Experience with flight data or simulation systems is a plus.
Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
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The Company
What We Do
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide.
Why Work With Us
What makes Shield AI special is our people. We unlock the power of autonomy, and in the face of overwhelming odds and challenges, we find ways to win and make a difference for our customers. We bring together software, AI, and aerospace engineering disciplines to deploy the most intelligent aviation capabilities in the world.
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