Senior Software Engineer (Autonomy Capabilities, Maritime)

• Focusing on the maritime portfolio, you’ll be creating autonomy capabilities for USVs, UUVs, and cooperating UAVs that enable them to perform advanced single- and multi-agent teaming missions beyond conventional motion planning and waypoint following
• The functionality you add will enable teams to use their diverse payloads and maneuvering characteristics to search for, localize, and pursue targets while avoiding sensed threats and obstacles that pose a risk to platform safety
• In many of these applications, you’ll have the opportunity to build capabilities from the ground up and be the first to integrate them onto new platforms
• You’ll traditionally start with shorter-term R&D efforts or aligned customer programs but with the intent that successful efforts will grow into larger, multi-year programs
• As a Senior Engineer, you will develop and own major features from end-to-end, from design through operational deployment, and work closely with cross-functional teammates to achieve program goals
• You’ll also take an active role in mentoring more junior engineers and may directly interface in customers in limited capacities
• Robust Motion Planning – Automate unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and/or unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) maneuvering through advanced motion planning and adherence to safety constraints including keep-out volumes, cooperative and uncooperative vehicles, and depth limitations
• Localization and Tracking – Employ cutting edge approaches for passive and active localization by defining fusion modalities, sensor requirements, and observability-aware maneuvering capabilities to maximize information gleaned from single- or multi-agent sensor networks
• Safe Maritime Operations – Keep vehicle safety as a central focus within autonomous behavior architectures to provide run-time assurance, ensure COLREGS adherence, and build operator trust in advanced mission autonomy
• Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Collaboration – Develop distributed optimization and task allocation approaches for heterogenous teaming in order to accomplish mission objectives by maximally utilizing the diverse capabilities of agents to overall team advantage
• Rigorous Software Development – Develop high-performance software modules that are well-tested, have clear interfaces and span-of-control, and are ready for mid-to-high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) insertions
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Collaborate with cross-functional teams including perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and operational test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms
• Deployment & Test Support – Deploy autonomy capabilities to real surface vehicles, supporting integration and demonstration events as well as analysis of mission logs to verify software performance and validate system operational effect
• R&D and Road-mapping – Contribute to autonomy roadmaps by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission
• Travel Requirement – Members of this team typically travel around 25% of the year (to different office locations, customer sites, and flight integration events)

Benefits

• Excellent Medical Coverage
• Mental Health Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Parental Leave
• Pet Insurance
• Flexible Work Hours
• Onsite Gym (DC)
• Gym Discount (San Diego)
• Free Parking
• Competitive Compensation
• Stock Benefits
• 401K Services and Match- Significant experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (ideally in the maritime domain specifically)
• Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance or higher
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment
• Significant background in one or several robotic technology areas related to control systems, motion planning, optimization, tactical behaviors, and/or distributed decision-making
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience
• Experience with simulation tools and environments (e.g., AFSIM, NGTS, or similar) for testing and validation
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and Python
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot and optimize system performance
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
• Experience in applied research and development
• Hands-on experience supporting integration events, customer demos, and/or live exercises
• Familiarity with domain-relevant DoD or government programs
• Background in collaborative behaviors and swarm robotics
• Experience across a breadth of methodologies from classical control through optimization and applied ML/RL
• Experience in multiple domains (e.g., air, land, sea, space)