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Senior Software Engineer – Autonomy Flight Test and Demonstration
Company | Shield AI |
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Location | San Diego, CA, USA |
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Salary | $129467 – $194201 |
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Type | Full-Time |
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Degrees | Bachelor’s |
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Experience Level | Senior |
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Requirements
- B.S in Computer Science, AI, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering or similar.
- 5+ years of experience in software development (C++, Python).
- Experience working with UAV flight software, autonomy, or robotics systems.
- Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills, particularly in real-time field environments.
- Familiarity with flight controllers (PX4, ArduPilot, or similar) and UAV integration workflows.
- Experience conducting field tests and live demonstrations with autonomous systems.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally (30%).
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with customers in high-stakes environments.
Responsibilities
- Support live customer demonstrations of Hivemind autonomy by setting up and operating software on UAVs in field environments.
- Develop, test, and debug software components for flight operations, ensuring seamless integration of Hivemind SDK onto customer platforms.
- Conduct flight testing of UAV autonomy, logging results, debugging issues, and providing feedback to the autonomy development team.
- Work cross-functionally with engineering, product, and customer success teams to refine software configurations and optimize mission performance.
- Analyze and document flight test results, providing actionable insights to improve autonomy, controls, and user experience.
- Collaborate directly with customers, pilots, and engineers to tailor UAV behavior and troubleshoot technical challenges.
- Contribute to automation tools for telemetry collection, flight data analysis, and debugging.
Preferred Qualifications
- Hands-on experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) or software-in-the-loop (SIL) simulation for UAV testing.
- Prior experience in DoD programs, military UAV operations, or aerospace/defense testing.
- Experience working with MAVLink, RTPS, or DDS-based communication protocols.
- FAA Part 107 certification or experience operating UAVs in field environments.