Senior Manager, Guidance & Control (GNC)

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a senior manager to lead its Guidance and Control (GNC) team. You will own the development and maintenance of control and autonomy algorithms for the V‑BAT platform, overseeing the full product lifecycle and collaborating closely with multiple engineering groups.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and maintain all control and autonomy algorithms within the V‑BAT code base.
• Drive full‑lifecycle development including algorithm design, coding, unit and component testing, flight‑software qualification and flight‑test support.
• Negotiate work‑share and tightly integrate solutions with Hivemind, State Estimation, Simulation Development, Aerodynamics and Embedded Software teams.

Required profile

• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor’s degree (or 7 years with a Master’s, 5 years with a PhD).
• Proven record of shipping complex products on schedule in fast‑paced environments.
• Experience building and mentoring high‑performance teams, creating career‑growth plans and filling capability gaps.
• Strong ability to negotiate responsibilities across cross‑functional teams and solve user‑centric software problems.
• Hands‑on experience with control systems for unmanned aerial or robotic platforms, including outer‑loop path planning and hierarchical software integration.

Required skills

• C++ and Python programming.
• Control‑systems engineering, UAV/robotics.
• Outer‑loop path planning and trajectory synthesis.
• Hierarchical software design and integration.
• Continuous integration / delivery and test‑driven development.
• Linear system analysis (gain/phase margin, pole placement, LQR).
• Filter development, discrete and Kalman filters.