Senior Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities - Space

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

The Autonomy Capabilities Team develops functionality to automate single- and multi-agent teams of platforms in pursuit of mission objectives and acts as a central discipline-aligned focal-point for encouraging consistent usage of technical approaches across business portfolios.

As a Sr Staff Engineer, you will lead the technical direction for the portfolio, driving the evolution of autonomy capabilities and architectures across multiple programs.

Responsibilities:

• Multi-Objective Optimization – Use advanced optimization strategies to perform large-scale distributed decision making, task allocation, and resource scheduling in multi-satellite coordinated missions
• Weapons Target Assignment – Employ cutting edge approaches for weapons target assignment and motion planning for fleets of space vehicles and interceptors that have critical roles in our national defense
• Advance the State of the Art – Pioneer advanced topics in low-SWaP optimal control, tactical behavior management in cooperative and adversarial contexts, and information-aware planning
• Rigorous Software Development – Develop high-performance software modules that are well-tested, have clear interfaces and span-of-control, and are ready for mid-to-high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) insertions
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Collaborate with cross-functional teams including perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and flight test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms
• Deployment & Test Support – Deploy autonomy capabilities to real space vehicles, supporting analysis of mission logs to verify software performance and validate system operational effect
• R&D and Road-mapping – Contribute to autonomy roadmaps by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission

Requirements:

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work 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 (ideally in the space domain specifically)
• Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for testing and validation.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot and optimize system performance.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.