Staff Field Solutions Engineer
Shield AI· Defense tech· Oct 21, 2026 · 6d ago
San Diego, California
In office
Full-time
Staff
$180K–$280K
7+ years exp
Job description
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai . Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn , X , Instagram , and YouTube .
Job Description:
Shield AI is hiring a Field Solutions Engineer, Hivemind to support technical sales, customer engagements, demonstrations, and capture activities for Hivemind, Shield AI’s autonomy solution for intelligent, mission-capable unmanned systems.
Hivemind enables autonomous operation across complex mission environments, allowing aircraft and other robotic systems to perceive, decide, coordinate, and execute with reduced operator burden. This role will serve as a customer-facing technical expert for Hivemind, helping defense and security customers understand how autonomy can solve operational problems, improve mission outcomes, and integrate into existing and future force structures.
The Field Solutions Engineer will translate customer mission needs, CONOPs, operational constraints, and platform integration considerations into credible, technically feasible Hivemind solution concepts. This includes supporting customer discovery, technical briefings, demonstrations, RFIs, RFPs, white papers, technical interchange meetings, and customer-specific solution development.
Success requires technical credibility, strong communication, product truth, and the ability to connect Hivemind’s autonomy capabilities to real customer missions across varied operational environments.
What you'll do:
Serve as a customer-facing technical expert for Hivemind autonomy solutions in markets.
Support customer discovery, technical briefings, demonstrations, technical interchange meetings, and capture activities.
Translate customer mission needs, CONOPs, operational objectives, and integration constraints into credible Hivemind solution concepts.
Partner with Business Development and Capture teams to support RFIs, RFPs, proposals, white papers, demos, and customer-facing technical narratives.
Explain Hivemind autonomy capabilities, limitations, roadmap considerations, and integration requirements to technical, operational, commercial, and leadership audiences.
Develop and maintain technical sales assets, including capability briefs, demo scripts, solution templates, FAQs, technical white papers, and customer-specific briefing materials.
Work closely with Product, Engineering, Customer Engagement, and Program teams to represent customer requirements, technical risks, roadmap gaps, and field feedback.
Help customers evaluate how autonomy can support operational effectiveness, mission planning, force modernization, and fielded mission outcomes.
Maintain strong product truth by ensuring customer-facing materials and discussions accurately reflect current capabilities, constraints, and roadmap timing.
Monitor relevant developments in autonomy, AI, unmanned systems, mission software, and defense technology to inform customer conversations and product feedback.
Build trusted relationships with customer technical stakeholders and internal cross-functional partners.
Operate independently across complex customer engagements while keeping internal stakeholders aligned and informed.
Required qualifications:
7+ years of experience in solutions engineering, field applications engineering, systems engineering, technical sales, autonomy, robotics, defense software, aerospace, or related technical customer-facing roles.
Strong technical understanding of autonomy, AI-enabled systems, mission software, unmanned systems, robotics, or complex defense technology systems.
Experience supporting customer-facing technical engagements such as demos, technical briefings, proposal support, integration discussions, technical interchange meetings, or operational workshops.
Ability to translate customer mission needs into technically feasible solution concepts, requirements, demos, and product feedback.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to technical, operational, commercial, and leadership audiences.
Ability to work cross-functionally with Business Development, Product Management, Engineering, Customer Engagement, and Program teams.
Strong judgment in representing product capabilities, limitations, and roadmap dependencies to customers.
Demonstrated ability to build trust with customers and internal stakeholders through technical credibility, responsiveness, and clear communication.
Ability to manage ambiguity, prioritize competing demands, and execute independently in a fast-paced environment.
Willingness and ability to travel for customer engagements, demonstrations, exercises, and internal meetings.
Preferred qualifications:
Prior military, defense, aerospace, robotics, unmanned systems, or advanced technology domains (military or civilian).
Direct experience working with U.S. Navy or U.S. Air Force customers, programs, or operational units, including familiarity with relevant mission sets, platforms, and acquisition processes.
Experience with autonomous systems (air, ground, or maritime) and familiarity with autonomy workflows, mission planning, system integration, and operational evaluation.
Hands-on experience with Python, C++, Linux, APIs, SDKs, autonomy software, robotics middleware, or technical prototyping.
Demonstrated ability to create clear, reusable technical content that enables BD, customers, and internal stakeholders.
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Full-time regular employee offer package:
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)
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
Application prep
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