Applications Engineer, Autonomy (open level)

🏢 Shield AI · 📍 San Diego, California · 💼 hybrid · ⏰ Full Time Employee 💰 $152,000 - $318,000 / yr

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Position Summary & Responsibilities

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and 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.

Our Applications Engineers are highly technical, customer-facing problem solvers who play a critical role in deploying Shield AI’s Hivemind software in real-world environments. This role is travel-intensive, with frequent trips, often international, and sometimes lasting multiple weeks, to work directly alongside customers on-site.

This is primarily a Senior-level role, and we’re typically looking for candidates with several years of relevant industry experience. That said, we will consider exceptional mid-level engineers who demonstrate strong technical fundamentals, a hands-on mindset, and a track record of taking initiative in dynamic, customer-driven environments

In this role, you will work closely with customers to understand their requirements, provide technical expertise during deployment, and ensure successful integration of our AI and autonomy products. You’ll also collaborate internally with engineering teams, with opportunities to gro

🎯 Candidate Preparation Guide For Shield AI Applicants

Key Role Competencies & Evaluation Highlights

Key Role Focus:

Testing raw first-principles engineering capability, intense mission-alignment with national defense, and high tolerance for high-stakes failure.

📋 Preparation Priorities (Key Areas to Clarify):

1. Academic or theoretical bias with no appreciation for hardware-in-the-loop and edge-computing constraints.
2. Lack of genuine conviction regarding the national security mission.
3. Defensiveness when receiving intense, direct technical critique from interviewers.

✨ Recommended Role Alignment Hook:

I apply first-principles engineering to build robust, edge-computed AI systems designed to operate flawlessly in contested, high-stakes environments.

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