We’re on the lookout for an experienced Staff Engineer, Autonomy to join our Hivemind Solutions team and help design, build, and deploy real-world autonomous capabilities for uncrewed systems. This is a hands-on engineering role, blending software development with robotics, perception, and path planning. You’ll be joining a high-performing team shaping the future of AI pilots for solving real-world problems.
If you’re a capable C++ developer with a passion for robotics and autonomy, this is your chance to make a real impact.
What you'll do:
- Design and implement autonomous behaviours for uncrewed aircraft.
- Work with real sensor data and build robust sensor fusion solutions.
- Develop and test autonomy systems in high-fidelity software and hardware in-the-loop simulations.
- Integrate Shield AI autonomy products together with third-party aircraft and systems.
- Collaborate across AI, robotics, and systems engineering teams to deliver integrated solutions.
- Contribute to architecture, code quality, design reviews and best practices.
- Lead and Mentor junior engineers
Required qualifications:
- A tertiary level qualification in Computer Science, Mechatronics, Software Engineering, Aerospace, Robotics or a related field
- Significant professional experience in robotics, autonomy, perception or aerospace systems
- Strong experience in modern C++
- Significant experience in building and delivering reliable software systems, ideally in fast-paced environments
Preferred qualifications:
- Prior experience with uncrewed systems, especially in the air domain
- Defence industry experience
- Significant experience in one or more of the following domains:
- State Estimation
- Real-Time Systems
- Guidance, Navigation and Control
- Path Planning
Skills Required
- Tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Mechatronics, Software Engineering, Aerospace, Robotics or related field
- Significant professional experience in robotics, autonomy, perception or aerospace systems
- Strong experience in modern C++
- Significant experience in building and delivering reliable software systems in fast-paced environments
- Prior experience with uncrewed systems, especially in the air domain
- Defence industry experience
- Significant experience in one or more: State Estimation, Real-Time Systems, Guidance Navigation and Control, Path Planning
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.
