Senior Software Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors (R4588)

f7d8749a-72d6-407c-bf98-292ea630c73a•Boston, MA

23h

About The Position

Shield AI’s Autonomy Capabilities Team develops functionality that automates single- and multi-agent teams of platforms in pursuit of mission objectives. The team promotes consistent technical approaches across business portfolios and works throughout the command-and-control hierarchy, from control laws and motion planning to tactical behaviors and multi-agent coordination, across mission sets, platforms, and domains including air, sea, and space. Its work emphasizes both engineering fundamentals and software integration to deliver capabilities that operate effectively within real-world integration contexts. The Senior Software Engineer, Autonomy Behaviors develops and integrates tactical autonomy software for unmanned platforms. The role applies advanced methods combining traditional control systems and optimization, balancing theory with practical, rigorous implementation. Responsibilities span the software development lifecycle and include enabling complex missions with limited human supervision, supporting multi-agent behaviors, and delivering reusable capabilities to vehicle platforms. The position includes travel of up to 20% for integration, testing, and collaboration with end users and partner teams. Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-technology company whose mission is to protect 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. The company has offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, and its technology supports operations worldwide.

Requirements

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
Proficiency in production-level C++ software development.
At least 5 years of experience in one or more of: software subsystem scheduling and integration, behavior planning, task and resource allocation, motion planning, optimization, or flight controls.
Experience with collaborative software development tools for version control, issue tracking, code reviews, and release management.
Ability to contribute to the design, development, and integration of complex software systems as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Demonstrated problem-solving skills and ability to learn new technologies in a fast-paced environment.
Willingness to collaborate closely with teammates and support team objectives.
Interest in growing technical skills and, over time, providing guidance to more junior engineers.
Desire to work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with systems at one or more technology readiness levels (TRLs), including supporting maturation of research concepts toward operational use.
Experience with mission systems integration, including participation in integration events, testing, or demonstrations.
Experience in collaborative mission planning, behavior planning, or coordinated teaming.
Experience in motion planning across different vehicle types or constraints.
Experience in sensor/target pairing, control strategies, or related autonomy functions.
Experience with safety systems such as collision avoidance or geofencing.
Experience with robotic software ecosystems such as ROS, OMPL, or optimization tools.
Experience with simulation tools for testing and validation.
Familiarity with navigation and communications systems.
Experience contributing to portions of the product development lifecycle.
Familiarity with systems engineering principles.
Familiarity with high-assurance software practices such as DO-178C or similar standards.

Responsibilities

Develop tactical autonomy software to enable unmanned platforms to perform complex missions across air, land, sea, and space domains with limited human supervision.
Implement and test behaviors for multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios.
Contribute to requirements, design, implementation, verification, and validation throughout the software development lifecycle, following established engineering best practices.
Collaborate with senior engineers to design and build scalable, maintainable software components that integrate with broader system architecture, including sensor processing, state estimation, communications, and actuation.
Contribute to shared frameworks and codebases to support reuse and extensibility of autonomy behaviors.
Work with internal product and program teams to deliver capabilities to vehicle platforms and support successful integration and iteration over time.
Collaborate with cross-functional and external teams to align on interfaces and system requirements.
Apply software engineering fundamentals to solve complex technical problems and grow domain expertise in autonomy and robotics systems.
Travel up to 20% to support integration, testing, and collaboration with end users and partner teams.