Senior Staff Engineer, Simulation Software (R2554)

Introduction to Shield AIFounded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world’s best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown a fighter jet (F-16), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (V-BAT), and a quadcopter (Nova). The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC and abroad. Shield AI’s products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies.

As a Simulation Software Engineer with the Hivemind Design (HMD) Department, you will be responsible for several simulation environments that support the development and implementation of autonomous behavior on Group 3 and Group 5 unmanned aircraft. You will be an integral to definition of sensor capabilities, image rendering, environmental conditions, and integrated EO/IR based simulated payloads on simulated platforms. The simulation environment you support will directly interact (through interfaces you create and maintain) with the autonomy and ground control station for VBATs and other platforms. As a Simulation Engineer you will ensure compliance with DoD and Industry standards (to include DIS and CIGI).

About our simulation environment – The HMD Simulation environment is multipurpose and written in the same stack as our autonomy environment. It utilizes Unreal Engine 5 for high fidelity visualization, Diligent Engine for low fidelity visualization, and integrates with DoD M&S products AFSIM and NGTS. The environment promotes modularity with simulation blocks, interface blocks, and a common scenario format.

What You'll Do:

• Improve and maintain existing Hivemind Design Simulation Environment
• Support packaging of final product to internal and external customers for training and testing
• Driving technical design and integration of new simulated payloads as they become required for platform testing
• Work on a team of 6-10 other software engineers on advancing features for the HMD simulation product
• Support extensibility of simulation environment through well defined interfaces provided by government and business customers

Required Qualifications:

• Experience in a relevant DoD modeling and simulation environment
• Strong C/C++ development experience Comfortability within UNIX/Linux environments 
• 10+ years of industry experience 
• Experience working projects with 10+ contributors 
• BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience 
• Demonstrated problem solving skills by applying a scientific approach 
• Offer fast, efficient, effective problem-solving approaches 
• Exceptional collaborator and communicator 
• Hard-working, trustworthy teammate 
• Exhibits holding themselves and others to high standard

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience using AFSIM or NGTS as a modeler or developer
• Integrating DoD M&S environments with a targeted platform (ex - F-16)
• Docker, Kubernetes, and/or containerized application development
• MS or greater in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience 
• Understanding of robotics technologies related to autonomous behavior development e.g. task allocation or planning. 
• Understanding/Experience with unmanned system technologies and accompanying algorithms (specifically air domain)