Be an Early Applicant
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, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). 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 and Instagram.
As part of the Hivemind Commander (HMC) team, you’ll play an active role in shaping and implementing our HMC Core Product. This HMC Core Product is a foundational, extensible set of services that enable both human operators (e.g. via command and control user interfaces) and third parties (e.g. to interoperate with wider networks) to interact with active Hivemind Edge (HME) autonomy systems and aircraft. You’ll collaborate cross-functionally with other Core Product engineers, Solutions engineers and new customers to develop robust APIs and supporting infrastructure that enable seamless integration with new systems and user interfaces. Ultimately, you’ll make it easier to improve the ability of our software to adapt to new systems, thereby enhancing the quality and reliability of our products to protect service members and civilians with AI systems.
What You'll Do:
- Contribute to the HMC platform that will revolutionize the way engineers, operators, and subject matter experts develop and integrate autonomy solutions.
- Contribute to building, extending and documenting interfaces for internal and customer use.
- Drive the development of a robust command and control software development kit (SDK) for internal and customer user.
- Develop, mature, and maintain test and distribution capabilities within continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- 10+ years of related experience developing large, production quality software systems.
- Expertise and deep experience with modern C++ (C++17 and beyond) .
- Professional experience developing in Linux environments.
- Experience with Git and code management tools.
- Demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with in aerospace and/or robotics industries
- Experience with command and control, mission planning and other operator-oriented systems for UAVs.
- Experience with international interoperability standards like STANAG4586.
- Experience with team leadership, or as a technical project lead
- Experience developing and maintaining software development kits (SDKs).
#LI-LD1
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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.
What the Team is Saying
Dylan
Lead Engineer, Planning and Controls-Motion
Mo
Lead Engineer, Platform Automation
Willy
Technical Director
Michael
Engineering Manager - State Estimation
Vibhav
Senior Staff Engineer
Kirby
Mechanical Engineer
Ryan
CEO
Evan
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Company materials describe excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage alongside a mental‑health EAP. Site perks such as an onsite gym in DC and a gym discount in San Diego support a health‑focused offering.
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Retirement Support — Careers materials highlight a 401(k) with company match as part of the standard package. A Total Rewards overview emphasizes retirement features within a broader, transparent compensation view.
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Career-Linked Recognition & Rewards — Compensation for in‑demand technical and senior go‑to‑market roles is described as competitive, with visible engineering ranges and top‑end packages. This points to meaningful upside tied to role, level, and scarce skills.
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The Company
What We Do
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-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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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
Typical time on-site:
Flexible
