# Senior Engineer, Autonomy - Tactical Behaviors

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: Washington, DC / Boston, MA / San Diego, California
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $160,000 - $240,000 a year
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/1af75b70-43ff-457b-858b-2935e7c8983a
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_58422c65-bfb

## Description

This position is perfect for an individual who enjoys solving complex problems across diverse domains and modalities. As a Senior Engineer, Autonomy - Tactical Behaviors, you will design tactical autonomy algorithms to enable unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions across air, land, and sea domains with minimal human supervision.

Key responsibilities include:

* Designing tactical autonomy algorithms to enable unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions
* Developing high-performance software modules that incorporate planning, decision-making, and behavior execution strategies
* Implementing and testing behavior architectures that enable multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios
* Working at the intersection of classical autonomy and machine learning, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning to achieve robust, adaptive behavior
* Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms
* Deploying autonomy capabilities to real platforms and participating in field tests and flight demos, validating performance in operationally relevant conditions
* Analyzing mission logs and performance data to diagnose failures, optimize behavior models, and inform iterative development

Required qualifications include:

* BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
* Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python, and familiarity with real-time operating systems (RTOS)
* Significant background in robotics technologies related to motion planning, behavior modeling, decision-making, or autonomous system design
* Significant experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (specifically air domain)
* Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for testing and validation

Preferred qualifications include:

* Experience applying ML/RL techniques in autonomy pipelines
* Background in collaborative behaviors, swarm robotics, or distributed decision-making
* Familiarity with tactical behaviors for unmanned systems in DoD or government programs

Salary: $160,000 - $240,000 a year

## Skills

### Required
- C++
- Python
- Real-time operating systems (RTOS)
- Robotics technologies
- Unmanned system technologies
- Simulation tools and environments

### Nice to have
- Machine learning (ML)
- Reinforcement learning (RL)
- Collaborative behaviors
- Swarm robotics
- Distributed decision-making
- Tactical behaviors for unmanned systems