What You'll Do:
- Design, implement, and maintain C++ and Python software in support of complex, cross-platform systems.
- Contribute to system architecture with a focus on performance, maintainability, and integration.
- Develop and support APIs and messaging interfaces (e.g., gRPC, REST, ZeroMQ).
- Integrate third-party software and hardware systems, including real-time and simulation tools.
- Debug and support distributed systems, with attention to threading, timing, and data flow.
- Apply modern agile practices such as test-driven development, continuous integration, and automated testing.
- Improve and maintain CI/CD workflows using tools like GitLab CI, Docker, CMake, and Conan.
- Collaborate across teams and projects to share solutions and promote good software practices.
- Continuously learn and adapt to new tools, standards, and technologies.
Required Qualifications:
- Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 4 years and a Master’s degree; or 2 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++14/17/20) with the ability to work effectively in legacy codebases (C++98/03).
- Proficiency in Linux/Unix environments, including system-level development and debugging tools.
- Experience with Python.
- Professional experience in Linux environments (Windows experience is a bonus).
- Solid understanding of system-level engineering and design patterns.
- Experience in a collaborative environment with CI/CD and test automation.
- Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker.
- Active SECRET clearance.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience integrating distributed simulation environments such as AFSIM or NGTS.
- Familiarity with open standards like UCI and OMS, and an understanding of data buses and interface protocols common in avionics and aircraft systems.
- Familiarity with simulation tools and modeling frameworks.
- Experience with networking concepts and messaging infrastructure.
- Hands-on experience with CMake, Conan, and GitLab CI/CD pipelines.
- Exposure to real-time systems and hardware/software integration.
- Ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance.
Skills Required
- At least 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree, 4 years with a Master's degree, 2 years with a PhD, or equivalent experience
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ including C++14, C++17, or C++20, with ability to work in C++98/03 codebases
- Proficiency in Linux or Unix environments, including system-level development and debugging tools
- Experience with Python
- Professional experience in Linux environments
- Understanding of system-level engineering and design patterns
- Experience with collaborative CI/CD and test automation environments
- Experience with containerization technologies such as Docker
- Active Secret clearance
- Experience integrating distributed simulation environments such as AFSIM or NGTS
- Familiarity with UCI, OMS, data buses, and avionics or aircraft interface protocols
- Familiarity with simulation tools and modeling frameworks
- Experience with networking concepts and messaging infrastructure
- Hands-on experience with CMake, Conan, and GitLab CI/CD pipelines
- Exposure to real-time systems and hardware/software integration
- Ability to obtain a TS/SCI clearance
What the Team is Saying
Shield AI Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is described as excellent, with dental/vision and mental‑health support, and ancillary protections like life and disability appearing in benefit summaries. The breadth and perceived affordability of coverage are highlighted as a standout component of the package.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is featured alongside enhanced maternity benefits, fertility and childcare support, and onsite resources such as a Mother’s Room. These elements are positioned as competitive and above the minimal baseline for the company’s stage.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is granted to all full‑time hires, with RSUs, double‑trigger tax timing, and tools to model scenarios (e.g., through Carta Tax). Communications also reference a transition from options to RSUs, reinforcing access and maturity of ownership programs.
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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Shield AI Teams
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Shield AI Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
