Staff Engineer, Shield AI
Test Integration, Modelling and Simulation
Building AI aircraft pilots
Open for applications
Building AI aircraft pilots
1001+ employees
Open for applications
1001+ employees
Company mission
To protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.
Role
Who you are
- Typically requires a minimum of 7 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 5 years and a Master’s degree; or 4 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience
- Advanced professional experience in software engineering and systems integration
- Familiarity with design patterns and system-level engineering principles
- Extensive experience in C++ using modern C++ (C++17/20) while possessing a solid understanding of older standards (C++98/03) for adapting to legacy code and systems seamlessly
- Experience in Python
- Programming experience in a Linux environment (Windows experience is a bonus)
- Expertise with Docker or other containerization mechanisms
- Demonstrated success leading projects with 10+ contributors
- Exceptional problem-solving skills, with a fast, efficient, and effective approach
- Deep understanding of design patterns and system architecture principles
- Experience in a collaborative development environment, focused on continuous integration/delivery and test-driven development
- Proficiency in Python
Desirable
- MS or greater in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
- Real-time and distributed simulation experience
- Experience with surface and/or subsurface simulation environments and models
- Advanced knowledge of third-party system integration (software and hardware)
- Experience with web-service technologies like gRPC, REST APIs, message queues (ActiveMQ, ZeroMQ), etc
- Familiarity with C++ tooling like CMake and Conan
- Experience with UCI and OMS Standards
What the job involves
- This position is perfect for a seasoned C++ engineer with expertise in modeling and simulation, systems, and systems integration
- As a key leader, you will tackle the most challenging and complex projects with minimal oversight, driving impactful results in collaboration with a dynamic and skilled team
- This is an opportunity to shape innovative solutions, integrating simulations and third-party systems, and advancing cutting-edge technologies
- Lead the design, development, and maintenance of high-performance C++ software for complex systems
- Architect robust, scalable simulation solutions for systems of systems and real-time processing
- Drive the integration of third-party software and hardware systems into comprehensive architectures
- Set technical standards and mentor other engineers to promote excellence and best practices
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure project alignment and successful delivery
- Implement modern agile software development practices, including continuous integration and test-driven development
- Tackle complex debugging and optimization challenges to enhance system performance
- Explore and adopt new technologies to stay at the forefront of the field
- Drive task decomposition for teams and individuals
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Self-driving vehicles present enormous benefits for the transportation industry, with the potential to increase the safety and efficiency of cars, trucks, and commercial airlines. However, such technological innovation is less present within the military transportation sector, despite the benefits that AI piloting would produce for the operation of drones and aircraft.
Shield AI is developing Hivemind, an AI-driven pilot that can operate drones and aircraft autonomously, without needing GPS, communications, or pilots. In addition to navigation, the technology is also designed to facilitate indoor building clearance, integrated defence breaching, and has the ability to learn and autonomously execute aircraft missions.
Whilst similar AI-driven pilot software has begun to appear in Chinese military research programs, Shield AI's target is the US. By developing fully autonomous piloting integrations for any type of aircraft, the company aims to future-proof the US military without the need for bespoke aircraft design. It has generated massive amounts of funding to support continued scaling and R&D efforts.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 14 rounds)
Mar 2026
$1.5bn
SERIES G
Mar 2026
$500m
LATE VC
Total funding: $3.0bn
Company benefits
- Excellent Medical Coverage
- Mental Health Employee Assistance Program
- Paid Parental Leave
- Pet Insurance
- Flexible Work Hours
- Gym Discount (San Diego)
- Onsite Gym (DC)
- Free Parking
- Competitive Compensation
- 401K Services and Match
- Stock Benefits
Company HQ
Core-Columbia, San Diego, CA
Leadership
Ryan Tseng
(Co-Founder & President)Experience as CEO, CTO and Founder of WiPower from 2006 to 2010. Technical Lead for Wireless Power Program for Qualcomm from 2010 to 2013.
Brandon Tseng
(Co-Founder & President)Naval Officer for the US Navy from 2009 to 2015.
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