Staff Engineer, Guidance & Controls (R4763)

Shield AI

Shield AI

Dallas, TX, USA

USD 180k-280k / year + Equity

Posted on Apr 8, 2026
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Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include the V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and the Hivemind Vision product lines. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

As a member of the Software Autonomy team, you will be responsible for creating and maintaining all of control and autonomy algorithms within the VBAT code base. This is a full lifecycle development opportunity with algorithm development, software design and coding, unit tests, component tests, flight software qualification and flight test support. You will also be responsible for helping update and validate the simulation models as required.

Required qualifications:

    • Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 2 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD.

    • Proven track record of successfully shipping products, showcasing the ability to navigate through development cycles, overcome obstacles, and deliver high-quality solutions to meet project deadlines and exceed expectations in a fast-paced environment..

    • Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills, with a focus on delivering user-centric software solutions.

    • Experience working with control systems, specifically unmanned aerial systems and/or robotics to include

    • Outer loop path planning / trajectory synthesis

    • Integrating software in a hierarchical environment

Preferred qualifications:

    • Familiarity with continuous integration / delivery and test-driven development

    • Strong C++ and Python coding experience

    • Simulation model development, verification and validation

    • Controls knowledge with experience in

    • Linear system analysis

    • Gain/Phase margin analysis

    • Time response

    • Filter development and verification / validation

    • First order filters

    • Kalman filters

    • Bandpass filters

#LI-SM1
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Full-time regular employee offer package:
Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
Temporary employee offer package:
Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
Salary compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, licenses and certifications, and specific work location. All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check. Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.
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Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

180000 - 280000 USD a year

Apply now
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