Director of Engineering, Foundations
Shield AI
San Diego, CA, USA · San Diego, CA, USA · Oregon, USA
Posted on Jun 17, 2025
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Shield AI is seeking an expert software engineer and world-class leader to scale and guide our Hivemind Foundations team into the next phase of execution. The Hivemind Foundations team is chartered with creating an integrated product, EdgeOS, that provides the foundational software layers upon which Hivemind Pilot autonomy is constructed and operated. The product encapsulates three primary components: run-time middleware, communications, and OS/security. As the leader of this team, you will oversee the team building, architecture, design, implementation, processes, and quality of execution to deliver this essential product to internal and external customers.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
- Drive strategic initiatives within and adjacent to the core products of Hivemind Foundations
- Manage and grow a team of elite software engineers
- Oversee solutions to some of the most challenging foundational configuration and communication problems for multi-agent autonomy
- Engage as a thought leader to drive the highest quality software
- Ensure the Hivemind Foundations product has world-class capabilities, quality, and documentation
- Define the technical roadmap in collaboration with product management
- Communicate the status of the technical capabilities throughout the life-cycle
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- B.S. in Computer Science with 15+ years of work experience. Similar degree or equivalent practical experience acceptable.
- You have rock-solid fundamentals in software engineering and the software development life cycle.
- You have extensive expertise in modern C++ and the development of run-time middleware, communications, and/or operating systems.
- You have demonstrated the ability to build, lead, train, and mentor a software engineering team at scale.
- You are a relentless learner who can comfortably develop the specialized knowledge necessary for tactical leadership of a small software engineering team, and the perspective required for strategic leadership of a large engineering team.
- You can recognize efficiency and inefficiency in software engineering processes; prioritize remedies based on accurate cost-benefit analysis; and then lead engineering teams through the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of the remedies.
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.