The Pilot team develops the algorithms and production software that enable intelligent systems to decide what to do and how to do it in uncertain, dynamic environments. Our work spans mission and task planning, motion planning, effects and action planning, and learned planning approaches. Depending on the team, you may work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, robotics, optimization, and real-time autonomous systems.
As a member of Behavior and Motion planning team, you will leverage your expertise in robotics to develop, deploy, and optimize path planning algorithms for autonomous systems that operate in complex, real-world environments. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver robust, scalable solutions that advance the state of Hivemind SDK. You will also contribute to developing technical requirements, test plans, and validating the performance of algorithms.
We are hiring software engineers across multiple experience levels. The scope of the role will be calibrated to the candidate's experience, from implementing and validating well-defined planning components to owning major technical capabilities, shaping architecture and roadmaps, and mentoring other engineers.
What you'll do:
- Research, design, and implement state-of-the-art algorithms for autonomous trajectory planning and control for single and multi-agent systems
- Build reliable, robust, and maintainable software, primarily in modern C++, with Python used for prototyping, analysis, automation, and testing.
- Develop comprehensive tests and evaluate planning stack performance in simulation and, where applicable, on real hardware.
- Diagnose complex algorithmic and software failures, including concurrency, performance, and integration issues.
- Collaborate with teams across the organization to refine requirements and deliver capabilities that meet operational needs.
- Contribute to the design and architecture of scalable, maintainable autonomy and software architecture
- Develop analysis tools to allow for rapid iteration
- Take new product features from ideation to verification, to flight testing, and all the way to maturation
- Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior engineers
- Stay current with the latest advancements in robotics, and apply them to solve challenging problems
Projects you might work on:
- Motion planning that produces safe, dynamically feasible behavior under real-world constraints.
- Collaborative and distributed motion planning for multi-agent scenarios.
- Incorporating various types of motion and dynamics models into the planning stack.
- Write software that allows the customer to interact with payloads safely.
- Planning approaches that incorporate vision-language models (VLMs), vision-language-action models (VLAs), or other learned components.
- Validate the planning stack using software-, hardware-, and vehicle-in-the-loop simulation of complex autonomous missions.
Required qualifications:
- Master's degree in computer science, Robotics, or a related field and 5+ years of relevant professional experience or PhD with 4+ years of relevant experience.
- Demonstrated experience through professional work, internships, research, or substantial projects building, testing, and debugging nontrivial C++ software for motion planning, robotics, autonomous systems, or a closely related algorithmic domain.
- Experience writing and debugging modern C++, including safe use of common concurrency patterns and the ability to diagnose issues such as data races, deadlocks, and lifetime errors.
- Working experience with Python for prototyping, analysis, automation, or testing.
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, including algorithms, data structures, testing, debugging, version control, CI/CD, and maintainable software design.
- Practical experience developing and debugging software on Linux.
- Ability to communicate technical decisions and collaborate effectively across disciplines.
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience with motion planning for any platform (aerial, maritime, space, or ground), working on decentralized or distributed planning for multi-agent systems, or trajectory optimization.
- Experience applying VLMs or VLAs to motion planning in safety critical systems.
- Experience delivering software for fielded, real-time, safety-critical, or resource-constrained autonomous systems.
- Experience with software-in-the-loop or hardware-in-the-loop simulation, performance profiling, or distributed systems.
- Evidence of relevant technical depth through fielded systems, applied research, publications, open-source contributions, or robotics and autonomy competitions.
Skills Required
- Master's degree in computer science, robotics, or a related field and 5+ years of relevant professional experience, or a PhD with 4+ years of relevant experience
- Professional, internship, research, or substantial project experience building, testing, and debugging nontrivial C++ software for motion planning, robotics, autonomous systems, or a related algorithmic domain
- Experience writing and debugging modern C++, including common concurrency patterns and diagnosing data races, deadlocks, and lifetime errors
- Working experience with Python for prototyping, analysis, automation, or testing
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, including algorithms, data structures, testing, debugging, version control, CI/CD, and maintainable software design
- Practical experience developing and debugging software on Linux
- Ability to communicate technical decisions and collaborate effectively across disciplines
- Experience with motion planning for aerial, maritime, space, or ground platforms; decentralized or distributed multi-agent planning; or trajectory optimization
- Experience applying vision-language models or vision-language-action models to motion planning in safety-critical systems
- Experience delivering software for fielded, real-time, safety-critical, or resource-constrained autonomous systems
- Experience with software-in-the-loop or hardware-in-the-loop simulation, performance profiling, or distributed systems
- Evidence of technical depth through fielded systems, applied research, publications, open-source contributions, or robotics and autonomy competitions
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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Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
