What You'll Do:
- Generate detailed mission test scenarios that mimic real-world conditions to validate the performance of autonomy and flight control software.
- Participate in design reviews for new features and design detailed test plans based on their requirements
- Conduct and manage system verification and validation events, culminating in verified flight readiness.
- Write test analyzers in Python to report and benchmark performance and qualification metrics of the system
- Produce test coverage and release-readiness reports by aggregating test cases, results, and quality requirements
- Recommend improvements to our simulation models and fault injection so that we can keep pushing the capabilities of our test suite before proceeding to flight
Required Qualifications:
- 10+ years of work experience in testing complex integrated software systems
- Demonstrated expertise & experience in test automation, minimally writing software to automate testing, preferably leveraging simulation for automated integration testing
- Strong experience with the software product development lifecycle, ideally for autonomy or vehicle systems
- Great understanding of system architecture, requirement derivation, and test planning across the V-model
- Experience with automating test cases in an existing test framework
- Experience producing high-quality technical documentation, including test plans, quality-assurance reports, and operational procedures
- Proven track record of successfully shipping products, showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions to meet project deadlines and exceed expectations in a fast-paced environment
- B.S., M.S, or PhD degree in Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science or a related field
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with autonomous or robotic systems
- Experience with simulation software and hardware emulation
- Background in a fast-paced, R&D or startup environment
- Proficiency in build test automation
- Proficiency in Python or C++
Skills Required
- 10+ years of work experience in testing complex integrated software systems
- Demonstrated expertise and experience in test automation, writing software to automate testing (preferably leveraging simulation for automated integration testing)
- Strong experience with the software product development lifecycle, ideally for autonomy or vehicle systems
- Understanding of system architecture, requirement derivation, and test planning across the V-model
- Experience automating test cases in an existing test framework
- Experience producing high-quality technical documentation, including test plans, QA reports, and operational procedures
- Proven track record of successfully shipping products
- B.S., M.S., or PhD in Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- Experience with autonomous or robotic systems
- Experience with simulation software and hardware emulation
- Background in a fast-paced R&D or startup environment
- Proficiency in build test automation
- Proficiency in Python or C++
What the Team is Saying
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.
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.
