# Staff Software Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** San Mateo, CA
**Role:** ML Engineering
**Salary:** $234k – $351k/yr
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** C++, Motion Planning, Behavior Planning, Reinforcement Learning, Optimization, ROS, Ompl, Afsim, Ngts, Flight Controls, Systems Engineering, Do-178C, Version Control, Multi-Agent Coordination, Mission Systems Integration
**Posted:** 2026-09-01

> Leads the design, implementation, integration, and field validation of tactical autonomy and multi-agent coordination capabilities for unmanned platforms. Requires 7+ years of relevant experience, production C++, technical leadership, and eligibility for a U.S. Secret clearance.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Design tactical autonomy algorithms enabling unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions across air, land, and sea domains with minimal human supervision.
- Develop high-performance C++ software modules for planning, decision-making, and behavior execution in dynamic and adversarial environments.
- Implement and test behavior architectures supporting multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability.
- Integrate classical autonomy and machine-learning approaches, including rule-based systems and reinforcement learning.
- Collaborate with perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and flight-test teams.
- Deploy autonomy capabilities to real platforms and participate in field tests and flight demonstrations.
- Analyze mission logs and performance data to diagnose failures and optimize behavior models.
- Research and prototype algorithms, identify tactical capability gaps, and contribute to the autonomy roadmap.
- Adapt autonomy solutions to evolving defense program needs, compliance requirements, and operational feedback.
- Act as technical owner for software systems across requirements, roadmap management, design, implementation, sustainment, and evolution.
- Lead multidisciplinary teams, set technical direction, manage project lifecycles, and mentor junior engineers.
- Travel approximately 10–15% of the year to offices, customer sites, and flight-integration events.

## Required Qualifications
- BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
- 7+ years of experience in software subsystem scheduling and integration, behavior planning, task and resource allocation, motion planning, optimization, or flight controls.
- Proficiency in production-level C++ software development.
- Experience with collaborative software development tools for version control, issue tracking, code reviews, and release management.
- Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, set technical direction, and manage projects from concept through deployment.
- Ability to learn independently, mentor junior team members, and build team cohesion.
- Ability to own an entire software system and engage stakeholders, define requirements, manage roadmaps, coordinate teams, and support system evolution.
- Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

## Preferred Qualifications
- Experience spanning multiple technology readiness levels, including transitioning research-grade concepts to operational systems.
- Mission-systems integration experience, including integration events or flight demonstrations.
- Experience with collaborative mission planning, behavior planning, synchronized teaming, automated tactics, motion planning, weapons target assignment, sensor-target pairing, sensor-centric control laws, collision avoidance, geofencing, or safety monitoring.
- Experience across multiple operational effects and domains, such as strike, air combat, surveillance, reconnaissance, air, space, maritime, or ground systems.
- Experience with robotics software such as ROS, OMPL, and optimization solvers.
- Experience with simulation environments such as AFSIM and NGTS.
- Familiarity with navigation and communications systems, systems engineering methodologies, product delivery lifecycles, and high-assurance software processes such as DO-178C or equivalent MIL-STD standards.

## Similar jobs

- [Staff Software Engineer - Snowflake Feature Store](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/66983557-05aa-4583-a35d-38df9881675d) - Snowflake - Bellevue, WA - $236k – $339k/yr
- [Staff Software Engineer, Model Infrastructure](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e7669ca0-c832-485f-9b10-dafc4bf42dc3) - Harvey - San Francisco, CA - $231k – $340k/yr
- [Staff Engineer, Autonomy Capabilities – Maritime](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/6584cef4-dd17-40e1-854e-fb8a2411eb50) - Shield AI - Washington, DC - $221k – $331k/yr
- [Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Post Training](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/c94fe965-7495-4c92-bb12-db1ac1c17682) - Airbnb - Remote - $248k – $310k/yr
- [Senior Staff Software Engineer, Agentic Search](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/5beacffe-b81b-4377-8a7b-fb5c956d03ee) - Ironclad - San Francisco, CA - $220k – $270k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/02d97f5d-f4e7-445e-8842-756b55d1843c
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/02d97f5d-f4e7-445e-8842-756b55d1843c