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Principal Engineer, Software Architect (R4562)

Shield AI· X-BAT Division – X-BAT Engineering - Software
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Dallas, TX$215.6k - $323.4kFull Time EmployeePosted 6mo ago

About the role

Lead the software architecture for Shield AI’s XBAT program across Mission, Vehicle, and Autonomy software domains, delivering a safe, secure, and scalable architecture for an advanced airborne system and its ground stations.

Responsibilities

  • Define and evolve the system‑wide software architecture for XBAT, spanning airborne vehicle, ground station, and autonomy layers.
  • Translate safety and security goals into technical requirements, standards, and design patterns that guide engineers across multiple software teams.
  • Ensure architecture supports safety‑critical and cyber‑relevant workflows, including formalizing architecture decisions, traceability, and compliance pathways.
  • Drive cross‑team alignment on APIs, data flows, fault handling, verification strategy, and risk management for integration of mission, vehicle, and autonomy components.
  • Partner with engineering leadership, system architects, and validation teams to balance innovation with assurance practices.
  • Set technical direction for long‑term scalability: modularity, maintainability, testability, and support for certification needs.
  • Mentor senior engineers and architects, raising design rigor and documentation quality.
  • Produce and maintain architecture artifacts: high‑level diagrams, interfaces, data models, risk analyses, design rationales.
  • Lead technical reviews for major features or integrations, ensuring alignment with standards and constraints.
  • Define architecture governance: decision records, change control, quality gates, collaboration flows across development, verification, and operations.
  • Collaborate with systems, hardware, and avionics teams to manage boundaries, timing, resources, and failure modes.
  • Drive technology evaluation and roadmap: frameworks, middleware, tooling to meet performance, assurance, and cyber‑hardening needs.
  • Support readiness evaluations: provide architectural evidence, participate in reviews, articulate compliance posture as requirements evolve.
  • Advocate for continuous improvement in architecture practice: metrics, reviews, knowledge sharing, onboarding.

Qualifications

  • Deep expertise in software architecture for complex, multi‑domain systems—ideally aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, or safety‑critical fields.
  • Proven track record delivering production software satisfying safety, security, or mission assurance requirements.
  • Strong systems thinking across performance, latency, reliability, testability, and certification considerations.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication; able to convey architecture vision to engineers, program leads, and stakeholders.
  • Experience driving architecture adoption across multiple teams, not just isolated designs.
  • Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Skills

Required:Software architecture for complex/multi-domain systemsSafety and security requirements translationCross-team architectural governanceLeadership and mentoringArchitecture artifacts and reviews
Nice to have:Certification and compliance planning

Benefits

  • Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
  • Temporary employee offer: pay within range plus temporary benefits after 60 days of employment
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Shield AI

Autonomy for the world.

Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

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