# Staff Software Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities (R5368) **Company**: Shield AI **Location**: San Mateo, California **Work arrangement**: onsite **Experience**: senior **Job type**: full-time **Salary**: USD 234,240-351,360 per-year-salary **Category**: Engineering **Industry**: Technology **Apply**: https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/94a05ffd-7376-4794-8d4b-80f6c56d151d?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply **Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_f92f551e-ec1 ## Description 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. This position is perfect for an individual who enjoys solving complex problems across a diverse set of programs and integration contexts. ## Responsibilities: - Design tactical autonomy algorithms to enable unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions across air, land, and sea domains with minimal human supervision. - Develop high-performance software modules that incorporate planning, decision-making, and behavior execution strategies for dynamic and adversarial environments. - Implement and test behavior architectures that enable multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios. - Work at the intersection of classical autonomy and machine learning, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning to achieve robust, adaptive behavior. - Collaborate with cross-functional teams including perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and flight test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms. - Deploy autonomy capabilities to real platforms and participate in field tests and flight demos, validating performance in operationally relevant conditions. - Analyze mission logs and performance data to diagnose failures, optimize behavior models, and inform iterative development. - Contribute to the autonomy roadmap by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission. - Support defense-focused programs and customer needs by adapting autonomy solutions to evolving mission sets, compliance requirements, and operational feedback. ## Requirements: - BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. - Proficient in production-level C++ software development. - 7+ years' experience in one or more of the following: software sub-system scheduling and integration, behavior planning, task and resource allocation, motion planning, optimization, or flight controls. - Experience with collaborative software development tools for version control, issue tracking, code reviews, and release management. - Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams, set technical direction, and manage full project lifecycles from concept to deployment. - Capacity to learn and grow individually, while mentoring junior team members effectively, building team cohesion and capacity. - Desire to work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, enthusiastic, and mission-centric environment. - Capacity to act as the technical owner for an entire software system, including stakeholder engagement, requirements definition, roadmap management, team co-ordination, design, implementation, sustainment, and evolution. - Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance. ## Preferred Qualifications: - Experience across a breadth of technology readiness levels (TRLs) and demonstration of bridging concepts from research-grade to operationally ready. - Experience with mission systems integration, and ideally, hands-on experience supporting integration events and/or flight demonstrations. - Experience across a multitude of application areas, including but not limited to: Collaborative mission planning, behavior planning, synchronized teaming, Automated red force vs blue force tactics, Motion planning across a variety of vehicle classes, kinematic constraints, and team compositions, Weapons target assignment, Sensor target pairing, sensor-centric control laws, Collision avoidance, geofencing, and safety-monitoring. - Experience in more than one operational effect (e.g., strike, air combat, surveillance, reconnaissance, etc.) and more than one associated domain (e.g., air, space, maritime, ground, etc.). - Experience with FOSS software that is commonly used in robotic systems (e.g., ROS, OMPL, optimization solvers, etc.). - Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS) for testing and validation. - Familiarity with practical aspects of navigation and communications systems. - Experience across the product delivery lifecycle, from emerging opportunity through system acceptance, deployment, and sustainment. - Familiarity with systems engineering methodologies. - Familiarity with high-assurance software development processes (e.g., DO-178C or equivalent MIL-STD's). ## 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) ## Equal Opportunity Employer: Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. ## Skills ### Required - C++ software development - software sub-system scheduling and integration - behavior planning - task and resource allocation - motion planning - optimization - flight controls - collaborative software development tools - version control - issue tracking - code reviews - release management ### Nice to have - Experience across a breadth of technology readiness levels (TRLs) - mission systems integration - hands-on experience supporting integration events and/or flight demonstrations - FOSS software - simulation tools and environments - practical aspects of navigation and communications systems - systems engineering methodologies - high-assurance software development processes --- Source: [Apply at jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/94a05ffd-7376-4794-8d4b-80f6c56d151d?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)