Senior Manager, Perception (R3634)

Washington, DC / San Diego, California / Boston, MA / Dallas, Texas Hivemind Solutions Division – Flight System Integration / Full Time Employee / On-site

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Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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 www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Job Description:

As a member of the HMS Perception team, you will conduct software development at the intersection of classical state estimation techniques, sensor fusion, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and machine perception. You will develop cutting-edge technology onto real hardware that provides robust and accurate estimates of vehicle pose and surroundings for real missions. Shield AI is pushing the envelope by applying advanced AI solutions to real hardware systems. An ideal candidate should aspire to be a part of this industry-changing team developing and deploying advanced technology that can truly make an impact.

We are seeking a skilled and motivated leaders with 10+ years of experience to manage a technical team supporting the development, integration, and testing of perception algorithms for advanced aerospace, defense, and robotics systems. In this role, you will contribute to implementing and integrating innovative perception solutions while collaborating with a multidisciplinary team of engineers to meet challenging operational requirements.

What you'll do:

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.
Write production quality software in C++
Produce an Assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (A-PNT) system to enable reliable autonomy in GNSS-degraded or denied environments
Extend and specialize Shield AI’s state-of-the-art state estimation framework for new sensors, platforms, and missions
Write test code to validate your software with simulated and real-world data
Collaborate with hardware and test teams to validate algorithms/code on aerial platforms
Write analyzers to ingest data and produce statistics to validate code quality
Enhance sensor models within a high-fidelity simulation environment
Work in a fast-paced, collaborative, continuous development environment, enhancing analysis and benchmarking capabilities

Required qualifications:

BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree, or equivalent practical experience
Ability to develop, benchmark, debug, and deploy software-based algorithms
Demonstrated problem solving skills by applying a scientific approach
Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 9 years and a Master’s degree; or 8 years with a PhD; or equivalent work experience
2+ years managing technical teams.
Demonstrated experience integrating and working with sensor payloads in the DoD space
Proficient with sensor fusion for noisy high-bandwidth exteroceptive sensors on compute-constrained systems
A solid foundation in theory related to state estimation, object detection, data association, probabilistic robotics, and signal processing.
Experience working projects with 10+ contributors
Offers Fast, efficient, effective problem solving approaches
Exceptional collaborator and communicator
Comfortability within Unix environments
Hard-working, trustworthy teammate
Exhibits holding themselves and others to high standards
Being kind to others
Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance

Preferred qualifications:

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)
Familiarity with high-fidelity simulation and sensor modeling
Working knowledge of Kalman Filter, Factor Graphs and other modern estimator fundamentals.
Strong working knowledge of Computer Vision with hands-on experience with OpenCV or similar CV libraries.
Experience developing sensor effects (control) algorithms.
Hands-on experience developing or implementing state of the art object detection/recognition pipelines.
Active SECRET clearance
Experience with UCI and OMS Standards

$229,233 - $343,849 a year

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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. Please speak to your talent acquisition representative for more information.

Shield AI is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal 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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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