# Manager, Software Test & Autonomation

**Company:** [Shield AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/shield-ai)
**Location:** San Diego, CA
**Role:** QA Engineering
**Salary:** $160k – $240k/yr
**Experience:** 5+ years
**Skills:** CI/CD, sonarqube, ROS, sil, hil, vil, test automation, verification and validation, software quality, autonomous systems
**Posted:** 2026-07-22

> Lead a multidisciplinary Software Test & Automation team to define verification strategies, build scalable validation frameworks across SIL/HIL/VIL environments, integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines, and establish software readiness standards for autonomous systems programs. Requires strong technical leadership, team-building, and experience driving software quality and engineering velocity.

## Job Description

## What you'll do

- Lead and grow a team of Software Test & Automation Engineers supporting Expeditionary and Emerging Operations.
- Define verification and validation strategies spanning simulation, SIL, HIL, VIL, and operational test environments.
- Drive the development of automated regression testing, validation frameworks, and test infrastructure that improve software quality and engineering velocity.
- Establish software readiness criteria, quality gates, and objective performance metrics used to assess autonomy maturity throughout the development lifecycle.
- Partner with Digital Infrastructure to integrate automated validation into CI/CD pipelines and expand continuous testing capabilities.
- Develop common automation frameworks, reusable test assets, and validation methodologies across multiple autonomy programs.
- Coordinate software readiness activities with software engineering, systems engineering, platform integration, and flight test teams.
- Develop technical roadmaps, staffing plans, and engineering priorities aligned with organizational objectives.
- Mentor engineers, conduct performance reviews, recruit top talent, and foster technical excellence across the organization.
- Present software readiness assessments, technical risks, and validation status to program leadership, Chief Engineers, and executive stakeholders.

## Required qualifications

- Lead and grow a team of Software Test & Automation Engineers supporting Expeditionary and Emerging Operations.
- Define verification and validation strategies spanning simulation, SIL, HIL, VIL, and operational test environments.
- Drive the development of automated regression testing, validation frameworks, and test infrastructure that improve software quality and engineering velocity.
- Establish software readiness criteria, quality gates, and objective performance metrics used to assess autonomy maturity throughout the development lifecycle.
- Partner with Digital Infrastructure to integrate automated validation into CI/CD pipelines and expand continuous testing capabilities.
- Develop common automation frameworks, reusable test assets, and validation methodologies across multiple autonomy programs.
- Coordinate software readiness activities with software engineering, systems engineering, platform integration, and flight test teams.
- Develop technical roadmaps, staffing plans, and engineering priorities aligned with organizational objectives.
- Mentor engineers, conduct performance reviews, recruit top talent, and foster technical excellence across the organization.
- Present software readiness assessments, technical risks, and validation status to program leadership, Chief Engineers, and executive stakeholders.

## Preferred qualifications

- Experience supporting autonomous systems, robotics, or unmanned platforms.
- Experience with software quality tools such as SonarQube.
- Experience with ROS.
- Experience developing software readiness metrics, dashboards, and executive reporting.
- Experience supporting DoD programs and customer demonstrations.

## Similar roles

- [QA Engineer, Capacity Delivery](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/0b919e94-1c9b-413b-9062-65c9322bb1ce) - Fluidstack - Austin, TX - $161k – $197k/yr
- [Software Development Engineer in Test, Operational Tools](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e3856b18-0a1d-44dd-b698-a27513ccd4a3) - Zoox - Foster City, CA - $168k – $211k/yr
- [Platform Engineer, Test](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/08fc022b-b998-4481-89d2-7753f03661cf) - inKind - Austin, TX - $150k – $160k/yr
- [Software Engineer - SDET](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/3ca1a8e8-eb89-4998-b60b-a50dfb3de5fe) - Sigma - San Francisco, CA - $170k – $240k/yr
- [Software Development Engineer in Test](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/547fd171-d495-4081-872e-a36ae078beb4) - Socure - Remote - $150k – $175k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e2a4e704-d605-4659-8d57-3c2d264b9499
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e2a4e704-d605-4659-8d57-3c2d264b9499