Senior Staff Engineer, Systems Test (R5430)

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-BATaircraft, 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 Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

As a Software Systems Test Engineer, you will be pivotal in driving integration testing of our full aircraft software system, integrating our autonomy, flight controller, and GCS software to qualify an intelligent, robust aircraft system. This role demands an engineer capable of overseeing system-level verification and validation, designing complex test scenarios, and ensuring that subsystem testing meets rigorous standards before proceeding to full system integration. You will marshal our aircraft software through full system verification & validation. Your work will directly impact the reliability and performance of our aircraft, preparing them for operational excellence in the field.

What you’ll do:

• Generate detailed mission test scenarios that mimic real-world conditions to validate the performance of autonomy and flight control software.
• Participate in design reviews for new features and design detailed test plans based on their requirements
• Conduct and manage system verification and validation events, culminating in verified flight readiness.
• Write test analyzers in Python to report and benchmark performance and qualification metrics of the system
• Produce test coverage and release-readiness reports by aggregating test cases, results, and quality requirements
• Recommend improvements to our simulation models and fault injection so that we can keep pushing the capabilities of our test suite before proceeding to flight

Required qualifications:

• 10+ years of work experience in testing complex integrated software systems
• Demonstrated expertise & experience in test automation, minimally writing software to automate testing, preferably leveraging simulation for automated integration testing
• Strong experience with the software product development lifecycle, ideally for autonomy or vehicle systems
• Great understanding of system architecture, requirement derivation, and test planning across the V-model
• Experience with automating test cases in an existing test framework
• Experience producing high-quality technical documentation, including test plans, quality-assurance reports, and operational procedures
• 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
• B.S., M.S, or PhD degree in Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Computer Science or a related field

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with autonomous or robotic systems
• Experience with simulation software and hardware emulation
• Background in a fast-paced, R&D or startup environment
• Proficiency in build test automation
• Proficiency in Python or C++

$180,000 - $270,000 a year

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.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed toequal 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.