Ground Control Station (GCS) Software Engineer

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:

We’re looking for a Software Engineer to join our team developing next-generation Ground Control Station (GCS) applications for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This role is ideal for engineers with a strong foundation in real-time, performance-sensitive software who also bring experience with modern web technologies.

You’ll work on mission-critical software that bridges responsive user interfaces with robust backend systems, enabling human operators to plan, command, and monitor autonomous assets with precision and reliability.

What you'll do:

• Design, develop, and optimize ground control software that enables low-latency communication with UAVs and other autonomous platforms.
• Build high-performance client and server applications that support telemetry processing, mission planning, and real-time control.
• Implement responsive user interfaces with React and TypeScript for operator workflows and visualization of spatial data, sensor feeds, and mission state.
• Collaborate closely with teams across autonomy, embedded systems, backend, and UX to deliver integrated, field-ready solutions.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and system designs that ensure responsiveness, scalability, and fault-tolerance.
• Lead development efforts on key features or subsystems, from early design through deployment and iteration.
• Write high-quality, well-tested code and participate in peer design/code reviews.

Required qualifications:

• Senior: Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 4+ years, or PhD with 2+ years.
• Staff: Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 6+ years, or PhD with 4+ years.
• Senior Staff: Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of relevant experience, or Masters with 9+ years, or PhD with 7+ years.
• Demonstrated experience building real-time or performance-sensitive applications—preferably for UAVs, robotics, autonomous vehicles, or simulation environments.
• Proficiency in a strongly typed programming language (e.g. C#, TypeScript, Java, C++) with exposure to lower-level systems or protocol integration.
• Experience with web technologies, especially React, TypeScript/JavaScript, and Node.js.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals including version control, testing, debugging, and performance profiling.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality software as part of a collaborative engineering team.
• Ability to obtain security clearance.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with GCS software, mission planning tools, or real-time visualization platforms.
• Familiarity with API-driven systems using REST or gRPC, and communication protocols like WebSocket or custom telemetry formats.
• Knowledge of standards such as STANAG 4586, Cursor on Target (CoT), or MAVLink.
• Familiarity with containerized environments (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD practices.
• Exposure to distributed systems and cloud integration for telemetry data pipelines.
• Understanding of security best practices in control systems and networked applications.

$130,000 - $250,000 a year

#LI-AA1

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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.

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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.