# Senior Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Expeditionary (R5193)

**Company**: Shield AI
**Location**: Washington, DC
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: USD 233,760-350,640 per-year-salary
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/d989b35b-3bcb-4a73-b11c-1e53c4303d86?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_a5996362-afe

## Description

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer to join the Autonomous Pilot Integration team for expeditionary platforms. The team builds autonomy solutions for V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, combining capabilities from various teams to develop and integrate autonomy software.

## Key Responsibilities

- Define and drive the long-term technical direction for Expeditionary autonomy across V-BAT, X-BAT, and future platforms

- Guide development of mission autonomy, payload integration, flight-autonomy interfaces, executive autonomy, and multi-agent capabilities

- Establish long-term technical strategy with the Aircraft team for platform integration, interface evolution, and mission readiness

- Influence architecture across Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, Strategic Systems (ACP), Aircraft, and customer organizations

- Serve as the organization's technical expert for complex autonomy integration challenges

- Lead architecture reviews, engineering standards, interface definitions, and organization-wide technical improvements

- Mentor senior engineers, develop technical leaders, contribute to leveling frameworks, and partner on senior hiring

- Guide customer releases, deployment strategy, and mission validation while supporting critical operational events

- Drive long-term improvements to engineering processes, integration workflows, testing infrastructure, and developer experience

## Requirements

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

- 10+ years of relevant experience

- Expert-level C++ and Linux systems development experience

- Demonstrated experience defining technical strategy across multiple engineering teams or programs

- Proven track record influencing architecture and solving highly complex systems integration challenges

- Experience mentoring senior engineers and driving engineering excellence

- Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance

## Preferred Qualifications

- Extensive experience with Group 3 UAS, VTOL platforms, or comparable autonomous systems

- Experience defining flight-autonomy interfaces or custom autopilot integrations

- Experience deploying autonomy to operational military systems

- Experience with international defense customers

- Experience with STANAG 4586, UCI, OMS, and open-systems architectures

- Experience shaping engineering practices across an organization

## Benefits

- Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity

- Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

## Travel Requirement

- Members of this team typically travel around 10–20% of the year to different office locations, customer sites, operator training events, flight tests, and integration exercises

## Skills

### Required
- C++
- Linux systems development
- technical strategy
- systems integration

### Nice to have
- Group 3 UAS
- VTOL platforms
- flight-autonomy interfaces
- autonomy deployment
- STANAG 4586

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Source: [Apply at jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/d989b35b-3bcb-4a73-b11c-1e53c4303d86?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)