Autonomy Engineer, Navigation (R4171)

Shield AI • Dallas, TX

1d

About The Position

Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy team is building next-generation autonomy and navigation solutions for resilient, mission-critical systems. As an Autonomy Engineer, you will contribute directly to the design, development, integration, test, and deployment of the Hivemind navigation stack. We seek engineers with experience delivering robust navigation and state estimation solutions for defense aviation systems, ISR platforms, or other DoD-relevant applications, with strong expertise in C++ software development for embedded Linux systems. This role is open to engineers ranging from senior technical contributors to subject matter experts, depending on experience level and technical leadership capacity.

Requirements

• Strong proficiency in modern C++ (C++11 or newer) and professional experience developing software for embedded Linux systems.
• Experience designing and deploying state estimation algorithms (e.g., error state EKF, UKF) in real-world defense or aerospace applications.
• Familiarity with developing for constrained environments requiring deterministic timing and high reliability.
• Deep understanding of inertial navigation systems (INS), GNSS integration, and navigation error modeling.
• Expertise calibrating and integrating IMUs, GPS receivers, magnetometers, and barometric sensors with flight software.
• Familiarity with MATLAB or Python for prototyping is acceptable; however, primary development experience must be in C++.

Nice To Haves

• Experience developing and deploying assured PNT systems for DoD customers.
• Expertise building digital models and simulations of navigation sensors and systems to inform hardware trade studies and mission analysis.
• Familiarity with alternative navigation techniques, such as celestial navigation, terrain-aided navigation, or vision-based navigation (VBN).
• Experience validating and verifying navigation systems in operational test environments.
• Principal-level applicants are expected to demonstrate thought leadership in navigation systems and may serve as technical mentors, roadmap authors, design reviewers, or proposal authors.

Responsibilities

• Research and develop advanced state estimation and navigation algorithms to ensure assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) in contested environments.
• Design, write, and deploy production-quality C++ software for aviation platforms requiring real-time, deterministic performance.
• Build and maintain comprehensive unit, integration, and system-level tests to validate navigation software performance under operational constraints.
• Develop modeling, calibration, and simulation tools for inertial and aided navigation technologies used in airborne platforms.
• Participate in agile-based product planning, feature definition, capacity estimation, and cross-team collaboration.
• Contribute to ongoing system performance evaluation, regression analysis, and V&V (Verification and Validation) efforts.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees