Staff Engineer, Autonomy (R5682)

Shield AI is seeking an experienced Staff Engineer, Autonomy to join their Hivemind Solutions team. The role involves designing, building, and deploying real-world autonomous capabilities for uncrewed systems. This hands-on engineering position combines software development with robotics, perception, and path planning.

Responsibilities

As a Staff Engineer, Autonomy, you will work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, task and motion planning, and controls. Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and implementing autonomous behaviours for uncrewed aircraft.
• Working with real sensor data and building robust sensor fusion solutions.
• Developing and testing autonomy systems in high-fidelity software and hardware in-the-loop simulations.
• Integrating Shield AI autonomy products with third-party aircraft and systems.
• Collaborating across AI, robotics, and systems engineering teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Contributing to architecture, code quality, design reviews, and best practices.
• Leading and mentoring junior engineers.

Required Qualifications

• A tertiary level qualification in Computer Science, Mechatronics, Software Engineering, Aerospace, Robotics, or a related field.
• Significant professional experience in robotics, autonomy, perception, or aerospace systems.
• Strong experience in modern C++.
• Significant experience in building and delivering reliable software systems, ideally in fast-paced environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with uncrewed systems, especially in the air domain.
• Defence industry experience.
• Significant experience in one or more of the following domains: State Estimation, Real-Time Systems, Guidance, Navigation and Control, Path Planning.

Eligibility

This role requires an Australian Government security clearance at the appropriate level. Australian citizenship is a mandatory requirement for this role due to clearance eligibility set by the Australian Government.