# Senior Staff Engineer, Discrete Planning

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** San Diego, CA
**Role:** ML Engineering
**Salary:** $230k – $350k/yr
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** C++, integer programming, mixed integer linear programming, constraint programming, convex optimization, multi-objective optimization, gurobi, google or-tools, cplex, gdb, optimization, operations research
**Posted:** 2026-07-24

> Senior Staff Engineer developing state-of-the-art discrete optimization algorithms for task allocation, scheduling, and mission planning of heterogeneous autonomous vehicle teams. Requires PhD/Master's in Optimization or Operations Research, deep expertise in integer programming and solvers, and strong C++ implementation skills.

## Job Description

## What you'll do
- Research, design, and implement state-of-the-art algorithms for optimal task allocation, scheduling and temporal sequencing of heterogeneous teams of autonomous vehicles (land, air, other).
- Solidify and improve existing C++ based mission planning software applicable across disparate vehicle types and compute platforms.
- Work with our engineers, program managers, and product managers to define a technical roadmap for future autonomy solutions and SDK offerings.

## Projects you might work on
- Breakdown a mission into assignable tasks based on agent capabilities such as navigating in contested and denied environments and adapting to mission changes in real-time.
- Construct feasible and optimal action plans for distributed teams of autonomous vehicles that also minimize human operator workload.
- Full software and hardware-in-the-loop simulation of complex multi-agent missions.

## Required qualifications
- Typically requires a PhD with graduate work in Optimization or Operations Research. Master’s degree with 4 or more years of work in the same areas.
- Expert in Integer or Mixed Integer Linear Programming, Constraint Programming, Convex Optimization, Multi-Objective-Optimization and using established solvers such as Gurobi, Google-OR, CPLEX etc.
- Significant experience in implementing algorithms in C++ and using debuggers such as gdb to troubleshoot execution within a multi-threaded environment.

## Ways to stand out
- Past publications on Optimization (google scholar profile).

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