Staff Software Engineer, Autonomous Pilot Integration – Expeditionary
Shield AI· Defense tech· Jul 21, 2026 · 3mo agoPosted 98 days ago
Washington, D.C.
In office
Full-time
Staff
$195K–$293K
7+ years exp
Before you apply
Ghost Signal:
Open since July 21, 2026 — 98 days, and still accepting applications.
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 .
The Autonomous Pilot Integration team for expeditionary platforms builds autonomy solutions for V-BAT — an unmanned aircraft operating in expeditionary environments for ISR, target acquisition, communications, and multi-agent missions. The team also builds autonomy for X-BAT, a new platform under development by the aircraft team; for X-BAT, the team builds on top of the existing mission autonomy solution from the Strategic Systems (ACP) portfolio and works closely with the aircraft team on the flight-autonomy interface. We combine capabilities from the Autonomy Capabilities team (motion planning, tactics), the Perception team (e.g., ViDAR, ATR), and the HivemindSDK to develop the autonomy software that runs on these platforms, then integrate, validate, and field it on the real hardware — for U.S. and international defense customers.
In this role, you'll lead the technical delivery of complex autonomy capabilities spanning platform integration, mission autonomy, and operational deployment. You'll own some of the team's most challenging technical problems—from defining flight-autonomy interfaces and integrating advanced payloads to driving mission readiness for customer releases. You'll influence technical direction across multiple subsystems while partnering closely with the Aircraft team, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, Strategic Systems (ACP), feature crews, and customer stakeholders.
You'll combine deep technical expertise with systems thinking to drive successful integration across software, hardware, and operations while mentoring engineers and improving engineering practices across the Expeditionary portfolio.
What You'll Do:
Lead Technical Delivery – Lead the technical execution of complex autonomy capabilities from architecture through field deployment, coordinating work across multiple engineering teams.
Develop & Field Autonomy – Drive integration of mission autonomy, payloads, flight-control interfaces, executive autonomy, and multi-agent behaviors onto V-BAT and X-BAT.
Aircraft Team Partnership – Serve as a primary technical partner to the Aircraft team, defining integration approaches, resolving interface issues, and ensuring mission readiness.
Cross-Team Technical Leadership – Partner across Aircraft, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, Strategic Systems (ACP), and feature crews to solve complex systems integration challenges.
Systems Architecture & Integration – Influence architecture, interface design, and integration strategy across multiple subsystems.
Design & Engineering Excellence – Lead design reviews, contribute to ICDs, mentor engineers, and improve engineering rigor.
Mission Readiness & Field Support – Drive release readiness while supporting flight tests, customer demonstrations, and operational deployments.
Continuous Improvement – Improve integration workflows, testing infrastructure, and engineering productivity.
C2 Interoperability & Standards – Drive implementation of GCS and C2 interfaces using common open-systems standards.
Travel Requirement – Members of this team typically travel around 10–20% of the year to different office locations, customer sites, operator training events, flight tests, and integration exercises.
Required Qualifications:
BS/MS in a relevant engineering discipline or equivalent experience.
7+ years of relevant experience.
Expert C++ and Linux development experience.
Experience leading complex autonomy or embedded software integration efforts.
Experience influencing technical direction across multiple engineering teams.
Experience supporting operational test events or customer deployments.
Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with Group 3 UAS or VTOL aircraft.
Experience with custom autopilot integration.
EO/IR or ViDAR integration.
Long-endurance ISR missions.
Docker, ARM embedded systems, and CI/CD experience.
Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical initiatives.
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#LD
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.
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