# Ground Control Station (GCS) Software Engineer

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: Dallas
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $130,000 - $250,000 a year
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/cf148e69-2ca0-4bfd-a4cc-af214bfcce8a
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_6a67b196-237

## Description

We're looking for a Software Engineer to join our team developing next-generation Ground Control Station (GCS) applications for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This role is ideal for engineers with a strong foundation in real-time, performance-sensitive software who also bring experience with modern web technologies.

You'll work on mission-critical software that bridges responsive user interfaces with robust backend systems, enabling human operators to plan, command, and monitor autonomous assets with precision and reliability.

### Responsibilities:

- Design, develop, and optimize ground control software that enables low-latency communication with UAVs and other autonomous platforms.

- Build high-performance client and server applications that support telemetry processing, mission planning, and real-time control.

- Implement responsive user interfaces with React and TypeScript for operator workflows and visualization of spatial data, sensor feeds, and mission state.

- Collaborate closely with teams across autonomy, embedded systems, backend, and UX to deliver integrated, field-ready solutions.

- Contribute to architectural decisions and system designs that ensure responsiveness, scalability, and fault-tolerance.

- Lead development efforts on key features or subsystems, from early design through deployment and iteration.

- Write high-quality, well-tested code and participate in peer design/code reviews.

### Requirements:

- Senior: Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 4+ years, or PhD with 2+ years.

- Staff: Bachelor's degree with 7+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 6+ years, or PhD with 4+ years.

- Senior Staff: Bachelor's degree with 10+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 9+ years, or PhD with 7+ years.

- Demonstrated experience building real-time or performance-sensitive applications,preferably for UAVs, robotics, autonomous vehicles, or simulation environments.

- Proficiency in a strongly typed programming language (e.g. C#, TypeScript, Java, C++) with exposure to lower-level systems or protocol integration.

- Experience with web technologies, especially React, TypeScript/JavaScript, and Node.js.

- Strong software engineering fundamentals including version control, testing, debugging, and performance profiling.

- Proven ability to deliver high-quality software as part of a collaborative engineering team.

### Preferences:

- Experience with GCS software, mission planning tools, or real-time visualization platforms.

- Familiarity with API-driven systems using REST or gRPC, and communication protocols like WebSocket or custom telemetry formats.

- Knowledge of standards such as STANAG 4586, Cursor on Target (CoT), or MAVLink.

- Familiarity with containerized environments (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD practices.

- Exposure to distributed systems and cloud integration for telemetry data pipelines.

- Understanding of security best practices in control systems and networked applications.

## Skills

### Required
- real-time software development
- performance-sensitive software
- modern web technologies
- strongly typed programming languages
- lower-level systems or protocol integration
- web technologies
- React
- TypeScript/JavaScript
- Node.js
- software engineering fundamentals
- version control
- testing
- debugging
- performance profiling

### Nice to have
- GCS software
- mission planning tools
- real-time visualization platforms
- API-driven systems
- REST or gRPC
- WebSocket or custom telemetry formats
- STANAG 4586
- Cursor on Target (CoT)
- MAVLink
- containerized environments
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- CI/CD practices
- distributed systems
- cloud integration
- telemetry data pipelines
- security best practices