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Shield AI › Engineering

Staff Engineer, Autonomy (R5682)

Shield AI · Melbourne

Pay
Not listed
This company didn't publish a range
Posted
Oct 18, 2026
Tracked open for 8 days
Team
Hivemind Solutions Division
Full-time
Shield AI hiring
667 open roles
426 in engineering
C++
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Typical engineering pay at Shield AI: $150K–$240K — median of 357 listed ranges.

Across all startups we track: $170K–$242K for engineering roles (8,046 listed ranges).

About the role

Job Description:

Shield AI is a venture-backed defence technology company building intelligent autonomous systems for aircraft. Our mission is to protect service members and civilians through AI and autonomy. 
We’re on the lookout for an experienced Staff Engineer, Autonomy to join our Hivemind Solutions team and help design, build, and deploy real-world autonomous capabilities for uncrewed systems. This is a hands-on engineering role, blending software development with robotics, perception, and path planning. You’ll be joining a high-performing team shaping the future of AI pilots for solving real-world problems. 
If you’re a capable C++ developer with a passion for robotics and autonomy, this is your chance to make a real impact. 

What you'll do:

    As a Staff Engineer, Autonomy, you’ll work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, task & motion planning and controls. 

  • Design and implement autonomous behaviours for uncrewed aircraft. 
  • Work with real sensor data and build robust sensor fusion solutions. 
  • Develop and test autonomy systems in high-fidelity software and hardware in-the-loop simulations. 
  • Integrate Shield AI autonomy products together with third-party aircraft and systems. 
  • Collaborate across AI, robotics, and systems engineering teams to deliver integrated solutions. 
  • Contribute to architecture, code quality, design reviews and best practices. 
  • Lead and Mentor junior engineers

Required Qualifications:

  • A tertiary level qualification in Computer Science, Mechatronics, Software Engineering, Aerospace, Robotics or a related field
  • Significant professional experience in robotics, autonomy, perception or aerospace systems
  • Strong experience in modern C++
  • Significant experience in building and delivering reliable software systems, ideally in fast-paced environments

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Prior experience with uncrewed systems, especially in the air domain
  • Defence industry experience
  • Significant experience in one or more of the following domains:
  • State Estimation
  • Real-Time Systems
  • Guidance, Navigation and Control
  • Path Planning

Eligibility

    Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems, and this role supports that mission directly by working with Australian Government classified material. It requires an Australian Government security clearance at level. 


    You don't need to hold a clearance already, we will sponsor your clearance and support you, because mission first, people always. Australian citizenship is a mandatory requirement for this role. It is a condition of clearance eligibility set by the Australian Government, eligibility details are here: https://www.agsva.gov.au/applicants/eligibility-suitability 



#LD

From Shield AI's careers page. First seen Oct 19, 2026, last verified Oct 25, 2026.

Shield AI hiring momentum

Open roles: 667, up 133 (+25%) over the last 30 days.

Jul 15, 2026 · 413Oct 25, 2026 · 667

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