Shield AI
Defense · Defense AI
- HQ
- San Diego, US
- Founded
- 2015
- Website
- shield.ai
Shield AI currently has 39 active AI-related job listings. The majority of these roles, 51%, are focused on agents, with application roles making up another 36%. The company is primarily hiring for engineering positions. Recent hiring activity shows an 11% increase in new AI roles over the last 30 days.
Currently tracking 35 active AI roles, up 40% versus the prior 4 weeks. Primary focus: Agent · Engineering. Salary range $156k–$320k (avg $238k).
Shield AI currently has 41 active AI-related roles in our index. The most common open titles are: Engineer, State Estimation (Dallas/San Diego/Boston/ DC/ San Fran) (2), Chief Engineer, Chief Engineer, Autonomy (R4614), Computer Vision Engineer (C++), Director, Test Engineering - ACP Programs (R5044). Most positions are in Engineering and Product.
Shield AI's active AI hiring is concentrated in: agents (51%), application (37%), serving infrastructure (10%). These categories follow a seven-stage AI lifecycle: data, pre-training, post-training, serving infrastructure, agents, evaluation, and application.
Shield AI is hiring AI talent in: United States (26 roles), Taiwan (3 roles), India (3 roles), United Kingdom (2 roles).
Job postings at Shield AI most frequently reference: agent orchestration, embodied ai, model serving, inference infra, evals.
In the past 30 days, Shield AI has posted 8 new AI-related roles. That is a -27% change versus the prior 30 days (11 → 8).
| Title | Stage | AI score |
|---|---|---|
| Staff Engineer, Thermal - Air Vehicle (R4856) Staff Aircraft Thermal Engineer responsible for thermal analysis, characterization, modeling, and design of unmanned aerial vehicles, specifically focusing on hot exhaust gas management and aircraft-level thermal environments. The role involves architecting analytical and numerical models, conducting trade studies, defining test plans, and mentoring cross-disciplinary teams. | — | 0 |
| Director, Engineering Excellence & Design Standards Seeking a senior technical leader to define and operationalize engineering design standards across the company, focusing on establishing engineering excellence and driving consistency, rigor, and scalability across design, analysis, certification, CAD, documentation, and configuration management. This is a high-impact individual contributor role with broad scope across multiple engineering disciplines, responsible for raising the bar on engineering quality without slowing down execution. | — | 0 |
| Project Manager, Demo (R4836) Project Manager for Shield AI, a defense tech company, focusing on delivering mission-critical programs involving advanced technology like unmanned aircraft and AI systems. The role involves planning, coordination, and execution across cross-functional teams to ensure seamless demonstrations, efficient logistics, and customer success. Requires strong project management experience, leadership, and communication skills, with preferred qualifications in UAVs and aviation product delivery. | — | 0 |
| Senior Asset Management Specialist (R4747) This role is for a Senior Asset Management Specialist responsible for scaling the company's enterprise IT asset management and procurement function. The role involves managing hardware and software assets, ensuring license compliance, optimizing costs, managing vendor relationships, and supporting audits in regulated environments. It reports into Service Delivery and collaborates with Cloud & Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and Finance. | — | 0 |
| Power Electronics - Thermal Engineer I (R4842) This role is for a Thermal Engineer focused on designing and analyzing thermal management systems for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics, specifically for high voltage, high power custom power electronics and energy storage. The engineer will use analytical, numerical, and CFD models, contribute to system architecture, and drive test planning and data analysis. | — | 0 |
| Engineering Manager, Structural Design (R4825) Shield AI is seeking an Aerostructures Design Manager to lead the design and development of structural components for their next-generation autonomous aircraft. The role requires significant hands-on design experience with composite or metallic airframes and demonstrated team leadership experience. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Systems Safety (R4823) This role focuses on ensuring safety in safety-critical airborne software systems, specifically for Shield AI's Hivemind platform which includes autonomy and AI algorithms. The engineer will develop safety requirements, perform hazard analyses, and ensure traceability and verification for certification, working across the full product stack including AI components. | — | 0 |
| Sr Manager, V-BAT Internal Training (R4821) Senior Manager role leading the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of V-BAT training and standardization across the organization. Operates at the intersection of training, operations, engineering, and product, managing training as a scalable, data-driven program. Requires a Technical Program Manager (TPM) mindset for planning, execution, risk management, and cross-functional alignment. Focuses on translating technical system or product changes into training requirements and deliverables, and partnering with flight operations. | — | 0 |
| Engineer II, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4816) Engineer II, Flight Controls for X-BAT aircraft, responsible for designing, implementing, and verifying flight control laws and simulation environments. This role involves close collaboration with various engineering teams to ensure integrated system performance and support flight test operations. | — | 0 |
| Senior Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4814) This role focuses on designing and implementing flight control systems for the X-BAT aircraft, involving the creation and maintenance of high-fidelity simulation environments, execution of verification activities, and support for flight test operations. It requires experience in vehicle modeling, control law design, and integration with other aircraft systems. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4813) Staff Engineer focused on designing and implementing flight control laws and supporting logic for the X-BAT aircraft, ensuring stable and robust performance across all flight regimes. This role involves building and maturing simulation environments, executing verification activities, and diagnosing simulation-to-test mismatches. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls - X-BAT (R4812) Senior Staff Engineer, Flight Controls for X-BAT aircraft, responsible for designing, developing, and verifying the flight control system across all flight phases. Requires extensive experience in flight controls, GNC, simulation, and real-time algorithm deployment. | — | 0 |
| Electrical Engineering Spring Co-op (January 2027) (R4475) Shield AI is seeking an Electrical Engineering Co-op to join their autonomous aircraft development team. The co-op will work on real-world hardware development and testing, contributing to novel aircraft programs under the guidance of a senior engineer. Projects involve circuit board design, power electronics, avionics bring-up, bug fixing, test rack building, and reliability testing. | — | 0 |
| Director, Mission Control (R4809) Director of Mission Control responsible for enterprise fleet allocation, configuration posture, and operational prioritization across all Aircraft Division product lines. This role acts as the authoritative arbiter of competing fleet demands, balancing customer commitments, test requirements, training events, deal capture activities, and long-term technology roadmap objectives. Requires deep understanding of Shield AI's business model, contract structures, market dynamics, aircraft configurations, and cross-functional interdependencies. Decisions have significant operational and financial impact. | — | 0 |
| Sr Lead FP&A - Procurement (R4808) This role supports financial planning and analysis for supply chain operations, focusing on cost optimization and efficiency improvements. It involves financial modeling, KPI monitoring, and reporting for procurement, logistics, and inventory. | — | 0 |
| Senior Engineer, Full-Stack Software - Foundry Applications (R4806) Full-Stack Software Engineer to design, develop, and deploy robust applications for Shield AI's manufacturing, operational planning, and execution within a Foundry-integrated ecosystem. This role focuses on internal tools supporting critical operations. | — | 0 |
| Staff Curriculum Manager (R4803) This role is responsible for designing, developing, and managing educational material for Shield AI's V-BAT aircraft, focusing on ensuring training products are innovative, compliant with regulations, and equip end-users with the necessary skills for autonomous intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance products. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, DevOps (4797) Staff Engineer, DevOps role focused on owning and maintaining the build system for autonomous aircraft software, improving developer velocity, and integrating CI pipelines. The role involves using agentic solutions to identify root causes of build failures. | — | 0 |
| Principal Engineer, Fluid & Thermal Systems (R4793) Shield AI is seeking a Principal Engineer, Fluid & Thermal Systems to lead the design, development, and optimization of fluid and thermal systems for their autonomous UAVs and ground systems. This role involves technical leadership, innovation, prototyping, testing, and integration of solutions in challenging environments, with a focus on first-principles engineering and advanced simulations. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Electrical Failure Analysis (R4593) Staff Engineer, Electrical Failure Analysis for an autonomous aviation company. Focuses on investigating and troubleshooting electronics systems critical to aircraft, including PCBs, harnesses, and connectors. Requires strong fundamentals in electrical engineering, failure analysis techniques, and experience in aerospace/defense. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff BD Account Executive, Hivemind - Army (R4794) Seeking a Business Development / Account Executive to drive growth for Hivemind Autonomy across the Americas, focusing on U.S. defense and government customers. Responsibilities include identifying, shaping, and closing opportunities, building customer relationships, and executing capture strategies. Requires a technically credible seller with experience in defense acquisition and strategic account management. | — | 0 |
| Senior Engineer, XBAT Simulation Modeling (R4546) (TX/SD/BOS) Senior Engineer to develop models and infrastructure for an integrated simulation pipeline in C++ for Shield AI's next-generation aircraft program. The role focuses on designing deterministic, high-performance simulation tools, implementing test scenarios, and performing verification and validation analysis. | — | 0 |
| EWIS Harness Design - Engineer I Design wire harnesses and cable assemblies for X-BAT, an autonomous UAV platform, ensuring reliability and performance in mission-critical environments. Collaborate with cross-functional teams for integration and testing. | — | 0 |
| Principal Engineer, Survivability (R4608) Shield AI is seeking a Principal Engineer, Survivability to shape and optimize the low observable (LO) performance of their next-generation autonomous aircraft. This role involves designing and optimizing LO features, conducting electromagnetic signature modeling, leading signature testing, and translating mission threats into survivability features. The engineer will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including AI, and work with materials scientists. A strong background in LO engineering, EM simulation tools, and RCS shaping is required, along with a Secret clearance. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Engineer, Survivability (R4606) Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer, Survivability to shape and optimize the low observable (LO) performance of their next-generation autonomous aircraft. This role involves designing LO features, conducting electromagnetic signature modeling, leading signature testing, and translating mission threats into survivability features. The engineer will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including AI, and work with materials scientists. A strong background in LO engineering, EM simulation tools, and testing methods is required, along with a Secret clearance. | — | 0 |
| Power Electronics - Thermal Engineer Senior Staff The role is for a Senior Staff Thermal Engineer focused on designing and analyzing thermal management systems for unmanned aerial vehicle avionics, including custom power electronics. It involves leading thermal analysis, developing models using CFD tools, providing technical leadership in trade studies, and mentoring junior engineers. The position requires expertise in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and cooling solutions for aerospace applications. | — | 0 |
| Power Electronics - Principal Electrical Engineer (R4822) Shield AI is seeking a Principal Power Electronics Engineer to design and develop power electronics for their next-generation X-BAT aircraft. This role involves full-cycle hardware development, from concept to production, including architecture design, component selection, PCB layout, and ensuring designs meet harsh environmental requirements. The engineer will also mentor junior team members and collaborate cross-functionally. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Engineer, Structures - Launch Recovery Vehicle (R4765) Shield AI is seeking a Senior Staff Engineer to lead the design, development, and testing of a novel launch and recovery system for their next-generation AI-powered autonomous aircraft. This role involves mechanical design, structural analysis, and creating robust, field-deployable support systems for military environments. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Guidance & Controls (R4763) Shield AI is a defense technology company building an AI pilot for aircraft. This Staff Engineer role focuses on developing and maintaining control and autonomy algorithms for their XBAT aircraft, including algorithm development, testing, qualification, and flight test support. The role requires shipping products and experience with robotics or control systems. | — | 0 |
| Power Electronics - Staff Electrical Engineer (R4479) Shield AI is seeking a Staff Power Engineer to lead the design, development, and delivery of high-performance power systems for their aircraft programs. This role involves defining architectures, mentoring junior engineers, and ensuring power electronics meet rigorous demands in harsh environments. Responsibilities include full-cycle hardware development from concept to testing, PCB ownership, and cross-functional collaboration. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Software Test (R4784) Staff Test Engineer for Shield AI, focusing on testing flight-critical software systems for XBat aircraft. Responsibilities include developing test plans, executing V&V, analyzing data, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Requires experience with aerospace/defense systems, regulatory standards, and test methodologies. | — | 0 |
| Engineer II, Software Test (R4786) Seeking an experienced Test Engineer to support the development, integration, and validation of XBat flight critical software systems. Responsibilities include designing and executing test strategies across hardware, software, and system-level components, developing test plans and procedures, executing verification and validation (V&V) efforts, analyzing test data, and collaborating cross-functionally. Requires a degree in engineering or related field, 2-5 years of experience, and familiarity with aerospace/defense systems and regulatory standards. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Test & Evaluation Engineer Staff Engineer, Test & Evaluation Engineer responsible for defining, planning, and executing integration testing phases for XBAT flight vehicles, subsystems, and ground support equipment, ensuring transition from design to flight/operational readiness. | — | 0 |
| Hardware Reliability Engineer II (R4675) Shield AI is a deep-tech company developing intelligent systems for defense, including aircraft and vision products. This role is for a Hardware Reliability Engineer II focused on ensuring the robustness and long-term performance of their flight hardware through testing, failure analysis, and collaboration with design and manufacturing teams. The role involves environmental and stress testing, root cause investigations, FMEA activities, and data analysis using tools like Python. | — | 0 |
| Senior Engineer, GNC - Sensor Integration (R4601) Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer, GNC - Sensor Integration to support the selection, characterization, calibration, and integration of multi-modal navigation and localization sensors for aerospace applications. This role requires working across electrical, mechanical, and software engineering disciplines. | — | 0 |
| Principal Engineer, State Estimation (R4602) Experienced state estimation engineer to design, develop, and deploy safety-critical navigation solutions for aerospace platforms. Requires expertise in state estimation theory, practical experience with ownship navigation systems, and strong software development skills for production-quality navigation code. Role involves designing a unified navigation architecture extensible to all-source navigation strategies in GPS-degraded environments. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Engineer, Mechanical Design (R4486) Mechanical Design Engineer for autonomous UAV products, focusing on electro-mechanical assemblies, full design process ownership, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. Requires strong CAD, analysis, and prototyping skills. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Aerostructures Design Engineer (R4721) This role is for a Senior Staff Aerostructures Design Engineer at Shield AI, a defense technology company focused on intelligent systems and autonomous aircraft. The engineer will lead the design and development of structural components for next-generation UAVs, utilizing CAD and FEA tools, and collaborating across disciplines. The role requires extensive experience in aircraft structural design, material selection, and compliance with aerospace standards. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Mechanical Design - Launch and Recovery Systems (R4573) Staff Mechanical Design Engineer responsible for the design, development, and testing of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for next-gen UAS, ensuring robust, field-deployable support systems for aircraft operations, maintenance, and sustainment in military environments. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Mechanical Design - Launch and Recovery Systems (R4572) Staff Mechanical Design Engineer to lead the design, development, and testing of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for next gen UAS. This role is instrumental in creating robust, field-deployable support systems that enable aircraft operations, maintenance, and sustainment in military environments. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Mechanical Design - Launch and Recovery Systems (R4571) Staff Mechanical Design Engineer for Ground Support Equipment (GSE) for next-gen UAS in defense. | — | 0 |
| Manager, Software Engineering - System Update Tools (R4745) Manager of Software Engineering for System Update Tools at Shield AI, a defense tech company. The role involves leading a team to design and develop software applications for over-the-air (OTA) updates, operator training simulations, maintenance management, and flight data analysis for aircraft systems. The focus is on creating robust, scalable, and integrated software solutions to enhance product operability and usability. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Quality (R4744) Staff Quality Engineer at Shield AI, a defense tech company building autonomous aircraft. The role focuses on ensuring product performance, reliability, and safety by leading quality initiatives across the product lifecycle, developing quality systems (AS9100), leading root cause investigations, and partnering with engineering and manufacturing teams. This role supports NPI, establishes control plans, and uses data-driven methods to improve manufacturing performance. It involves shaping quality strategy and influencing cross-functional decisions. | — | 0 |
| Staff Technical Program Manager, Manufacturing (R4741) This role is for a Staff Technical Program Manager focused on manufacturing for advanced, deep-tech products in the defense industry. The primary responsibility is to lead the execution of complex manufacturing programs from concept to production, ensuring cross-functional alignment and driving program outcomes end-to-end. The role requires strong program leadership, operational planning, and experience in aerospace or advanced manufacturing, particularly in a startup or high-growth environment. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineer, Mechanical - Harness Design (R4594) Staff Harness Design Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development of precision wire harnesses and cable assemblies for Shield AI's next-generation autonomous UAV platform. This role involves concept, 3D CAD routing, analysis, prototyping, and testing of harnesses in mission-critical environments, with a focus on reliability and collaboration with cross-functional teams. | — | 0 |
| Senior Staff Engineer, Electromechanical (R4583) Senior Staff Electromechanical Engineer focused on designing and integrating avionics systems for next-generation aircraft, from concept to production, ensuring compliance with aerospace standards in a fast-paced environment. | — | 0 |
| Engineer II, Mechanical - Harness Design (R4597) Shield AI is seeking a Harness Design Engineer to design wire harnesses and cable assemblies for their autonomous UAV platform. This role involves electrical and environmental analysis, prototyping, testing, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate will have a degree in engineering, 2+ years of experience in harness design for aerospace or robotics, strong CAD skills, and familiarity with EWIS design software and standards. | — | 0 |
| Standardization Pilot (R4736) This role is for a Standardization Pilot at Shield AI, a defense tech company focused on intelligent systems for military aviation. The pilot will define best practices for flight operations, execute V-BAT flight operations, serve as a subject matter expert, assist in developing SOPs and training materials, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The role requires UAS pilot experience or equivalent military aviation experience and a strong understanding of aviation principles and flight safety. It is not directly involved in building or researching AI/ML models. | — | 0 |
| Staff Engineering Specialist, Hardware Test (R4710) Shield AI is seeking a Staff Engineering Specialist to join their Hardware Test Engineering team. This role focuses on building, designing, and maintaining mechanical hardware for production test systems and manufacturing support equipment, including fixtures, adapters, and tooling. The specialist will ensure reliable and repeatable testing of aircraft subsystems and components, requiring strong mechanical fabrication, assembly, design, and troubleshooting skills. | — | 0 |
| Senior Program Finance Analyst (R4731) Senior Program Finance Analyst role supporting the Hivemind business unit, focusing on financial visibility, forecasting, budgeting, and strategic execution. Requires strong analytical skills, financial modeling, operational finance, and data analysis experience, with a foundational understanding of US GAAP and government contracting in a hardware-oriented environment. | — | 0 |