Manager of Engineering, Autonomy Capabilities (R5412)

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 Autonomy Capabilities team develops the core functionality used to drive autonomous decision making for single- and multi-agent teams of platforms in pursuit of mission objectives. The team serves as a central technical discipline within Shield AI, driving consistent approaches across business portfolios while operating at every level of the command-and-control hierarchy, from advanced control laws and motion planning to tactical behaviors and multi-agent coordination. Our work spans a wide range of mission sets, platform types, and operational domains, including air, sea, and space.

The team combines strong technical fundamentals, including vehicle kinematics and dynamics, trajectory design, optimization, information fusion, and efficient algorithms, with the software engineering and integration rigor required to field these capabilities on real-world systems. We build autonomy that operates reliably within complex integration environments and delivers differentiated mission capabilities to U.S. and international defense customers.

Your team will build autonomy solutions for small, often air- or ground-launched platforms that operate individually or as part of collaborative multi-agent fleets, frequently in disconnected or air-gapped environments. The capabilities your team develops will span motion planning, tactical behaviors, track fusion, weapons-target assignment, and perception-aware decision-making.

You will own the team’s technical delivery, organizational health, and growth. A core part of the role is building and developing the team by hiring strong engineers, mentoring them through complex technical challenges, and creating opportunities for continued growth. You will remain technically engaged, helping define system architecture, guiding key design decisions, contributing directly where it best serves the team, and ensuring solutions are delivered from rapid prototyping through software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and live test exercises. Success in this role requires a leader who can balance technical depth with people leadership, navigate ambiguity across multiple programs, and translate evolving customer needs into autonomy capabilities that can be integrated, validated, and fielded.

What You'll Do:

• Lead and Grow the Team – Manage a team of autonomy engineers, typically 5–10 people. Own performance, growth, leveling, engagement, and delivery while providing regular coaching, feedback, and technical mentorship.

• Build the Team – Identify the skills needed within your area, partner closely with recruiting, conduct interviews, maintain a high hiring bar, and help close and onboard strong candidates.

• Own Technical Delivery– Lead autonomy capabilities from initial design through integration, validation, and field deployment. Translate program objectives into clear technical priorities, execution plans, and ownership across the team.

• Set Technical Direction – Define technical approaches and architectures for mission autonomy, balancing reuse of existing Shield AI capabilities with new development required for specific platforms and missions.

• Develop Tactical Autonomy – Guide the development of motion planning, tactical behaviors, multi-agent coordination, track fusion, perception-aware decision-making, and weapons- or sensor-target assignment for platforms operating in complex and communications-constrained environments.

• Remain Technically Engaged– Stay close to the code and contribute directly where it provides the most value, including prototyping capabilities, reviewing critical designs, investigating difficult problems, and supporting key delivery milestones. This is a manager role, not a managing-only role.

• Drive Engineering and Integration Rigor – Ensure the team develops high-performance, well-tested software with clear interfaces and the reliability required for operational deployment. Lead design reviews and strengthen development, testing, and integration practices.

• Navigate Ambiguity and Changing Priorities – Make sound technical, staffing, and sequencing decisions when requirements are incomplete or program priorities shift. Communicate changes clearly and protect the team’s ability to execute.

• Partner Across Teams and With Customers – Collaborate with Perception, Platform Integration, Simulation, Hardware, Flight Test, and Program teams, as well as U.S. and international defense customers, to shape requirements, resolve technical tradeoffs, and successfully integrate autonomy onto real-world platforms.

• Lead Testing and Continuous Improvement– Own validation across software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and live test environments. Use mission data and test results to diagnose failures, improve capabilities, and inform the team’s technical roadmap.

• Travel Requirement – Members of this team typically travel approximately 10–15% of the year to other Shield AI offices, customer sites, integration events, flight tests, and demonstrations.

Required Qualifications:

• BS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience; or 5 years with a master’s degree; or 4 years with a PhD; or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience leading and developing engineers as a people manager, team lead, feature lead, or similar technical leadership role, including mentoring, providing feedback, and coordinating team delivery.

• Track record of leading a technical team or major capability from initial design through integration, validation, and field delivery.

• Significant experience with robotics or autonomous systems, including areas such as motion planning, tactical behaviors, decision-making, controls, or multi-agent coordination.

• Strong proficiency in C++, with experience developing production-quality software for real-time, robotics, or autonomy systems.

• Experience with unmanned systems, autonomy simulation environments, and software- or hardware-in-the-loop testing.

• Strong systems-level problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. SECRET security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct people-management experience, including responsibility for performance management, hiring, feedback, and employee development.

• Experience developing tactical autonomy for weapons, strike, collaborative combat aircraft, launched effects, or related defense applications.

• Experience with multi-agent coordination, distributed decision-making, trajectory optimization, track fusion, or weapons- and sensor-target assignment.

• Hands-on experience integrating autonomy onto unmanned platforms and supporting flight tests, demonstrations, or field exercises.

• Experience developing capabilities for disconnected, communications-denied, or air-gapped environments.

• Experience authoring interface-control documents or working with UCI, OMS, or similar defense interoperability standards.

• Experience partnering directly with DoD or international defense customers.

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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.