Senior Manager, Autonomy - Tactical Behaviors; R3778

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep‑tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include V‑BAT/X‑BAT aircraft, Hivemind Enterprise, and Hivemind Vision product lines. With nine offices across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia‑Pacific, Shield AI’s technology supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). Follow Shield AI on Linked In, X, Instagram, and You Tube.

This position is perfect for someone who enjoys solving complex problems across diverse domains and modalities. An ideal candidate will apply classical autonomous techniques, algorithms, and theory to various platforms in multiple tactical scenarios. These solutions will be integrated into real‑world problems with near‑term program impacts and rewards. We are seeking a skilled and motivated manager to lead technical teams and support direct projects implementing autonomy algorithms for defense platforms.

Shield AI is committed to developing cutting‑edge autonomy for unmanned aircraft operating across all DoD domains, including air, sea, and land. We aim to push the envelope by combining traditional autonomous systems algorithms with deep reinforcement learning‐based solutions to deliver unmatched capability, agility, and speed in deploying advanced technologies that support national defense.

• Multidisciplinary Team Leadership – Lead teams across autonomy, integration, and testing by aligning technical efforts, resolving cross‑functional challenges, and driving mission‑focused execution. Balance hands‑on technical oversight with performance optimization, innovation, and clear stakeholder communication.
• Tactical Autonomy Design – Design tactical autonomy algorithms to enable unmanned aircraft to perform complex missions across air, land, and sea domains with minimal human supervision.
• High‑Performance Software Development – Develop high‑performance software modules that incorporate planning, decision‑making, and behavior execution strategies for dynamic and adversarial environments.
• Behavior Architecture Implementation – Implement and test behavior architectures that enable multi‑agent coordination, target engagement, reconnaissance, and survivability in contested scenarios.
• Hybrid Autonomy Integration – Work at the intersection of classical autonomy and machine learning, blending rule‑based systems with learning‑based methods such as reinforcement learning to achieve robust, adaptive behavior.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration – Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including perception, planning, simulation, hardware, and flight test to ensure seamless integration of autonomy solutions on real‑world platforms.
• Deployment & Field Testing – Deploy autonomy capabilities to real platforms and participate in field tests and flight demos, validating performance in operationally relevant conditions.
• Mission Data Analysis – Analyze mission logs and performance data to diagnose failures, optimize behavior models, and inform iterative development.
• R&D and Road mapping – Contribute to the autonomy roadmap by researching and prototyping new algorithms, identifying tactical capability gaps, and proposing novel solutions that advance Shield AI’s mission.
• Program Support & Adaptation – Support defense‑focused programs and customer needs by adapting autonomy solutions to evolving mission sets, compliance requirements, and operational feedback.
• Travel Requirement – Members of this team typically travel around 10‑15% of the year (to different office locations, customer sites, and flight integration events).

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience.
• 7+ years of experience in Unmanned Systems programs in the DoD or applied R&D
• 2+ years of people leadership experience
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C++ and…