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Shield AI is seeking a Senior Engineer for Mission Systems Software to architect and develop real-time, safety-critical mission-computing systems for autonomous aircraft. This role sits at the center of autonomous platforms, integrating sensors, weapons, and autonomy capabilities into deterministic, high-performance systems.
You will define end-to-end software architecture spanning mission applications, platform services, middleware, OS interfaces, hardware-abstraction layers, networking, and data distribution. Key responsibilities include architecting for deterministic real-time performance (scheduling, latency, jitter, synchronization, resource allocation), developing architecture views and interface definitions, and integrating sensors, effectors, communications, navigation, autonomy, and mission-management systems.
You'll design for mission resilience through fault detection, redundancy, graceful degradation, health monitoring, cybersecurity, and airworthiness certification. You'll establish engineering practices for concurrency, memory management, deterministic execution, and predictable component integration. Throughout the system lifecycle—from PDR through CDR to lab test, flight test, and fielding—you'll maintain technical ownership, evaluate enabling technologies, manage technical debt, and communicate architectural decisions.
Verification spans HIL/SIL laboratories, simulations, test benches, flight-test environments, and deployed systems using automated, performance, stress, fault-injection, and timing tests. You'll work cross-functionally with hardware, FPGA, cybersecurity, safety, systems, integration, and test teams to reach consensus on design.
Required: Bachelor's in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field. 8+ years professional software-engineering experience, including 3+ years in software or systems architecture or technical leadership. Proficiency in C, C++, Rust, or similar strongly-typed systems language. Deep expertise in real-time software principles, embedded/RTOSs, middleware, IPC, networking, and data-distribution technologies. Experience defining software architectures, APIs, interface-control documents, data flows, deployment models, and resource budgets. Demonstrated ability integrating software with hardware, sensors, communications, navigation, and mission-system components. Full lifecycle experience from requirements through deployment. Working knowledge of systems-engineering processes, requirements management, traceability, configuration management, and V&V. Strong performance-analysis skills using instrumentation, telemetry, profiling, and timing data. Excellent cross-functional technical leadership, problem-solving, and communication. Ability to obtain and maintain U.S. DoD security clearance; U.S. citizenship may be required.
Preferred: Experience with autonomous aircraft, UAS, avionics, mission computers, robotics, or aerospace/defense platforms. Familiarity with A-GRA, AMS-GRA, OMS, UCI, FACE, or government reference architectures. Experience integrating autonomy, mission management, command-and-control, sensor processing, communications, navigation, and effector capabilities. Knowledge of airworthiness, safety-assurance, or certification standards (DO-178C, DO-254, ARP4754A, military standards).
