Senior Staff Engineer – Autonomy & Motion Planning

About the role

Shield AI is seeking a senior technical leader for its UK Autonomy team to drive the development of autonomous behaviours for unmanned platforms. The role combines hands‑on software engineering with system‑level ownership across the full product lifecycle.

Key responsibilities

• Design and implement tactical autonomy software enabling air, land, sea and space missions with minimal human supervision.
• Develop and test multi‑agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance and survivability behaviours in contested environments.
• Architect scalable software subsystems that integrate with sensor processing, state estimation, communications, actuation and payload interfaces.
• Collaborate with vehicle integration teams, pilots and operators to define interfacing requirements and deliver capabilities to platforms.
• Lead cross‑functional teams, set technical direction and act as the software subject‑matter expert in multi‑stakeholder settings.

Required profile

• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science, Aerospace, Electrical, Robotics or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in software sub‑system integration, behavior or motion planning, optimization or flight controls.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams through concept, design, verification and deployment.
• Eligibility to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Secret security clearance.

Required skills

• Production‑level C++ development.
• Experience with ROS, OMPL and other open‑source robotic libraries.
• Familiarity with simulation tools such as AFSIM or NGTS.
• Knowledge of high‑assurance development standards (e.g., DO‑178C, MIL‑STD).