Chief Engineer, Autonomy — Space Domain (R5150)

The role

This senior technical role leads the design, delivery and sustainment of autonomy for space-domain national-security missions. The Chief Engineer owns architecture, verification, technical risk and readiness from concept through on-orbit operations.

What you will do

• Serve as senior technical authority for space-domain autonomy, owning architecture, design, quality and technical risk
• Define and evolve an autonomy architecture across satellites, payloads, ground systems and data sources
• Lead development of autonomous tasking, scheduling, replanning and resource allocation across constellations and orbits
• Architect hybrid on-board and off-board processing strategies
• Lead design of exploitation capabilities such as triage, sensor fusion and anomaly detection
• Own dissemination of mission products, including standards, routing, access control and traceability
• Drive technical rigor through requirements, interface documents, trade studies and verification plans
• Lead technical readiness for major reviews, testing, commissioning and customer acceptance
• Define and execute a verification and validation strategy, including simulation and on-orbit validation where applicable
• Serve as senior technical counterpart for government customers, mission partners and executives

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace, electrical/computer engineering, systems engineering, applied mathematics, robotics, physics or a related technical discipline
• 12+ years of progressively responsible experience in autonomy, space systems, aerospace, robotics, mission systems, ISR, satellite operations, distributed systems or comparable fields
• Demonstrated experience as Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, Technical Director, Principal or Distinguished Engineer, IPT lead or equivalent
• Significant experience designing, integrating, testing and operationalizing software-intensive mission systems with high reliability or assurance requirements
• Technical depth in several areas such as autonomous planning, space mission operations, multi-orbit tasking, embedded and cloud architectures, on-board processing, ISR or data-product generation, and
• Experience leading a multidisciplinary, matrixed engineering organization
• Strong written and verbal communication skills for engineers, executives, government customers and partners
• Experience supporting customer-facing technical work such as proposals, architecture, demonstrations and technical reviews

Nice to have

• Advanced degree
• Experience with national security, defense, intelligence, civil-government or commercial-space programs
• Experience moving mission autonomy from prototype into sustained operational use
• Experience with operational test, mission rehearsal, launch preparation, satellite commissioning or on-orbit anomaly response
• Familiarity with safety and mission-assurance methods, cybersecurity engineering and authorization processes
• Experience establishing a reusable autonomy platform across multiple programs
• Active TS/SCI clearance, or established eligibility to obtain and maintain it

Benefits

• Bonus
• Equity
• Benefits package (full-time regular employees; not available to military fellows or part-time employees)
• Temporary benefits package applicable after 60 days of employment (temporary employees)

Before you apply

• All offers are contingent on a cleared background and possible reference check
• Compensation varies by skill set, experience, licenses, certifications and work location
• Military fellows and part-time employees are not eligible for benefits

About the company

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company that builds intelligent systems to protect service members and civilians. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.