# Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Weapons (R5400)

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: Washington, DC
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: staff
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: USD 195,200-292,800 per-year-salary
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/2973db9d-8bd9-4f89-af10-a6c0a7fead77?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_63b83cd3-1ff

## Description

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company founded in 2015, with a mission to protect service members and civilians using intelligent systems. The company's products include Hivemind autonomy software and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft.

The Autonomous Pilot Integration team for launched effects builds autonomy solutions for small platforms that operate in multi-agent fleets and frequently in disconnected or air-gapped environments. The team combines capabilities from various departments to develop autonomy software, integrate it, validate it, and field it on real hardware for U.S. and international defense customers.

As a Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Weapons, you will lead the technical delivery of complex autonomy capabilities spanning platform integration, fleet operations, and operational deployment. Your responsibilities will include:

- Leading technical delivery of major autonomy capabilities

- Developing and integrating autonomy software solutions onto launched effects platforms

- Collaborating across teams and partners

- Designing and documenting architecture and integration practices

- Driving mission readiness for capability releases and fleet-scale deployments

- Providing technical leadership during flight tests, customer demonstrations, and operational deployments

- Analyzing mission data and reproducing issues

- Building tools, automation, and engineering processes to improve deployment velocity and mission reliability

The role requires:

- BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent practical experience

- Typically 7+ years of relevant experience

- Expert C++ and Linux development experience

- Experience leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration efforts

- Experience influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams

- Experience supporting operational test events or customer deployments

- Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance

Preferred qualifications include:

- Experience with launched effects or distributed autonomous systems

- Experience integrating PX4, ArduPilot, or custom autopilot solutions

- Experience with fleet-scale autonomous operations

- Experience with disconnected or air-gapped deployments

- Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives

- Experience with UCI, OMS, MOSA, WOSA, or TAK/CoT

The salary range for this position is USD 195,200-292,800 per year. Members of this team typically travel around 10–20% of the year.

## Skills

### Required
- C++
- Linux
- autonomy software integration
- embedded software integration
- technical leadership

### Nice to have
- launched effects
- distributed autonomous systems
- PX4
- ArduPilot
- fleet-scale autonomous operations
- disconnected or air-gapped deployments
- UCI
- OMS
- MOSA
- WOSA
- TAK/CoT

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Source: [Apply at jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/2973db9d-8bd9-4f89-af10-a6c0a7fead77?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)