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Senior Staff Engineer, Software Autonomy (R5125)

Shield AI· AI Hive – Engineering
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Hybrid (New Delhi / Bangalore)International Office EntityPosted 4mo ago

About the role

Senior hands-on technical lead and subject matter expert to build edge-AI and autonomy software for platforms across sea, air, and space, collaborating with customers to understand requirements, write code, develop capabilities, ensure integration, and mentor teammates.

Responsibilities

  • Autonomous teaming drones.
  • Team ing between helicopters and drones.
  • Autonomy on Robodogs.
  • AI Pilots for Fighter Jets
  • Learn Hivemind: Become an expert user of the Hivemind Enterprise Autonomy Software Development Kit.
  • Tactical Autonomy Design – Design tactical autonomy algorithms to enable unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions across air, land, and sea domains with minimal human supervision.
  • High-Performance Software Development – Develop high-performance software modules that incorporate planning, decision-making, and behavior execution strategies for dynamic and adversarial environments.
  • Behavior Architecture Implementation – Implement and test behavior architectures that enable multi-agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios.
  • Hybrid Autonomy Integration – Work at the intersection of classical autonomy and machine learning, blending rule-based systems with learning-based methods such as reinforcement learning to achieve robust, adaptive behavior.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration – Collaborate with perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and flight test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real-world platforms.
  • Deployment & Field Testing – Deploy autonomy capabilities to real platforms and participate in field tests and flight demos, validating performance in operationally relevant conditions.
  • Mission Data Analysis – Analyze mission logs and performance data to diagnose failures, optimize behavior models, and inform iterative development.
  • R&D and Roadmapping – Contribute to the autonomy roadmap by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission.
  • Program Support & Adaptation – Support defense-focused programs and customer needs by adapting autonomy solutions to evolving mission sets, compliance requirements, and operational feedback.
  • Handover / Training – Provide software handover and training to customers for their autonomy development efforts.
  • Documentation – Develop and maintain technical documentation for customer as well as internal use.
  • Travel Requirement – typically 10-15% travel per year within offices/sites; up to ~30% travel for deployment/training/flight testing.
  • Travel to and stay at customer sites as required for deployment / training / flight testing etc.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Aerospace, AI, Computer Science, Robotics or a related engineering field.
  • 12+ years of industry experience
  • Ability to travel and stay deployed at customer sites across India/Asia.
  • 3+ years of hands-on software development experience for autonomy/robotics applications.
  • 2+ years of startup environment experience.
  • Strong software engineering background.
  • Proficiency in modern C++.
  • Intermediate proficiency in Python.
  • Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Fluent in Hindi and English.

Skills

Required:C++PythonAutonomy/Robotics software developmentSystem integrationCommunicationTravel readiness
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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