Staff Software Engineer – Autonomous Pilot Integration (Expeditionary)

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the technical delivery of autonomy capabilities for its expeditionary unmanned aircraft platforms, V‑BAT and the upcoming X‑BAT. The role combines deep software expertise with systems thinking to integrate flight‑autonomy interfaces, payloads, and multi‑agent behaviors, and to ensure mission readiness for defense customers.

Key responsibilities

• Lead end‑to‑end technical execution of complex autonomy features from architecture through field deployment, coordinating across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, and Strategic Systems teams.
• Define and implement flight‑autonomy interfaces, integrate advanced payloads, and drive mission‑ready releases for V‑BAT and X‑BAT.
• Influence system architecture, interface control documents, and integration strategy across multiple subsystems.
• Mentor engineers, lead design reviews, and improve engineering rigor and integration workflows.
• Support flight tests, customer demonstrations, and operational deployments, traveling 10–20% of the time.

Required profile

• BS/MS in an engineering discipline or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of relevant experience, including leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration.
• Ability to obtain a SECRET security clearance.

Required skills

• C++ development on Linux.
• Docker containerization.
• ARM embedded systems.
• CI/CD pipelines.