Staff Engineer, HMS Factory (R5276)

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.

As a Software Engineer on the HMS Factory Team, you will develop, implement, and maintain the automated testing frameworks, log analysis tools, and scenario-generation scripts built on top of the Hivemind Platform (HMP) SDK. Your work is highly technical and hands-on, directly enabling hundreds of autonomy and systems developers to rapidly verify AI Pilot behaviors across our expansive portfolio set. In this role, you will navigate complex environment boundaries between secure GovCloud and commercial ecosystems, tackling deep build-system challenges such as dependency migrations and establishing reliable artifact and source-mirroring pipelines across isolated networks.

You will write python-based analytics libraries, build custom wrappers around the HMP Forge test orchestrator, and programmatically generate complex testing environments using domain randomization. You will also participate in the hands-on prototyping and deployment of new distributed testing technologies like on top of the Forge Server to support massive batch-testing runs. Additionally, you will serve as a critical technical bridge, translating raw simulation telemetry into structured, high-fidelity insights while keeping mainline branches unified and stable in the face of varying program upgrade cadences.

Write, optimize, and maintain advanced Python-based data analysis pipelines and custom analyzers (such as the Shared Analysis Tool) to parse simulation runs, extract log data, and calculate mission performance metrics.

Develop, debug, and maintain custom C++ or Python adapters and automated test orchestration wrappers around core HM Forge to satisfy program-specific validation requirements.

Implement programmatic scenario-generation pipelines and write domain-randomization scripts to systematically test autonomy behaviors under highly varied environmental conditions.

Analyze simulation log files, rosbags, and network captures to isolate, reproduce, and debug autonomy software defects or simulator failures.

Build, test, and write Terraform or Kubernetes configuration files to prototype and deploy distributed orchestration templates on top of the Forge Server.

Write reusable, clear step-by-step developer guides, API documentation, and workspace templates to help program engineers implement automated simulation tests.

Design and evolve common telemetry ingestion, analysis, and reporting frameworks that enable consistent performance evaluation across HMS programs.

Typically requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

Strong software development background in Python, particularly for data analysis, scripting, and automation tooling (utilizing libraries like NumPy, Pandas, or similar).

Hands-on experience with automated test orchestration, CI/CD, simulation environments, and container-based architectures (Docker, Kubernetes).

Solid software engineering fundamentals, including version control (Git), automated testing, and disciplined debugging practices in a Linux environment.

Familiarity with distributed compute frameworks or container orchestration tools is highly preferred.

Strong technical problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex, asynchronous software systems.

Ability to obtain and maintain an active U.S. SECRET security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).