Technical Recruiter

Shield AI•Washington, DC

9d•$120,000 - $180,000

About The Position

Shield AI, a venture-backed deep-tech company founded in 2015, is seeking a highly strategic and execution-focused Staff Software Recruiter. The mission of Shield AI is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. This role will be instrumental in scaling critical engineering organizations, owning full-cycle recruiting for complex software engineering functions. The focus will be on specialized technical domains such as Autonomy, Robotics, Embedded Software, Perception, Planning, Controls, and Distributed Systems, supporting the development of next-generation aerospace and autonomous systems. This is a strategic talent partner role, requiring the individual to collaborate with engineering leadership on hiring strategy, workforce planning, prioritization, and building scalable pipelines for hard-to-hire technical talent. The ideal candidate will thrive in high-growth, high-ambiguity environments and have a proven track record of closing senior and niche software engineering talent while balancing speed, quality, and stakeholder partnership.

Requirements

10+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience, including significant ownership of complex software engineering searches.
Proven success recruiting Software Engineers, Autonomy Engineers, Robotics Engineers, Embedded Software Engineers, Perception Engineers, Infrastructure Engineers, Machine Learning Engineers, or similar technical talent.
Strong understanding of software engineering concepts, technical architectures, and engineering organizational structures.
Experience partnering with senior engineering leadership in fast-paced or high-growth environments.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex searches simultaneously while maintaining strong hiring outcomes.
Strong sourcing and market-mapping capabilities across highly competitive technical domains.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and operational execution skills.
Experience using ATS systems, sourcing platforms, and recruiting analytics to drive decisions and pipeline visibility.
Ability to operate strategically while remaining highly execution-oriented.

Responsibilities

Own full-cycle recruiting for highly specialized software engineering roles across Autonomy, Robotics, Perception, Planning, Embedded Software, Distributed Systems, Simulation, Machine Learning, Infrastructure, and related technical domains.
Build and execute proactive sourcing strategies for difficult-to-find technical talent across aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, automotive, AI/ML, and adjacent industries.
Act as a strategic advisor to leadership on market trends, talent availability, compensation competitiveness, and hiring risks.
Drive strong operational rigor across pipeline management, funnel health, data accuracy, and stakeholder communication.
Help influence workforce planning and ensure hiring activity remains aligned to approved business priorities.
Improve recruiting scalability through process improvements, documentation, interview calibration, and tooling optimization.
Deliver an exceptional candidate experience while maintaining urgency and high hiring quality standards.
Mentor junior recruiters and sourcers while helping elevate recruiting best practices across the organization.