What you'll do:
- Own full-cycle recruiting for highly specialized software engineering roles across Autonomy, Robotics, Perception, Planning, Embedded Software, Distributed Systems, Simulation, Machine Learning, Infrastructure, and related technical domains
- Build and execute proactive sourcing strategies for difficult-to-find technical talent across aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, AI/ML, and adjacent industries
- Act as a strategic advisor to leadership on market trends, talent availability, compensation competitiveness, and hiring risks
- Drive strong operational rigor across pipeline management, funnel health, data accuracy, and stakeholder communication
- Help influence workforce planning and ensure hiring activity remains aligned to approved business priorities
- Improve recruiting scalability through process improvements, documentation, interview calibration, and tooling optimization
- Deliver an exceptional candidate experience while maintaining urgency and high hiring quality standards
The ideal candidate thrives in high-growth, high-ambiguity environments and brings a strong track record of closing senior and niche software engineering talent while balancing speed, quality, and stakeholder partnership.
Required qualifications:
- 8+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience, including significant ownership of complex software engineering searches across the EMEA region
- Proven success recruiting Software Engineers, Autonomy Engineers, Robotics Engineers, Embedded Software Engineers, Perception Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, Machine Learning Engineers, or similar technical talent
- Strong understanding of software engineering concepts, technical architectures, and engineering organizational structures
- Experience partnering with senior engineering leadership in fast-paced or high-growth environments
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex searches simultaneously while maintaining strong hiring outcomes
- Strong sourcing and market-mapping capabilities across highly competitive technical domains
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and operational execution skills
- Experience using ATS systems, sourcing platforms, and recruiting analytics to drive decisions and pipeline visibility
- Ability to operate strategically while remaining highly execution-oriented
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience recruiting within aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, AI/ML, automotive, or other highly technical industries
- Familiarity with autonomy stacks, robotics systems, embedded software development, distributed systems, simulation environments, or machine learning workflows
- Experience supporting hiring at scale during periods of rapid organizational growth
- Experience influencing workforce planning, prioritization, or recruiting operations
Skills Required
- Proven experience as a strategic talent acquisition partner driving full-cycle hiring for engineering and go-to-market roles within defense or Public Sector SaaS.
- Demonstrated success supporting new market entries and rapidly scaling teams, particularly in the Middle East.
- Strong credibility working with senior leaders and executives as a trusted talent advisor and business partner.
- Deep understanding of EMEA talent dynamics, sourcing strategies, and competitive intelligence.
- Highly consultative, commercially minded, and comfortable operating with ambiguity.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution (end-to-end recruitment ownership).
- Able to pass a cleared background check and possible reference checks.
What the Team is Saying
Shield Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are described as strong and affordable, and offerings include a mental-health assistance program. Overall impressions point to good plan value for many employees.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with employer matching is highlighted positively, with accounts describing a company match and favorable experiences. Current match formulas and vesting are noted as worth confirming.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Full-time hires receive equity (often via RSUs), positioned as a meaningful component of total rewards. A double-trigger structure is noted as potentially deferring taxes until a liquidity event.
Shield Insights
What We Do
At Shield 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 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 Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
