Sr. Manager – Navigation and State Estimation Engineering (R3035)

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide.  For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.    

Shield AI’s Hivemind autonomy team is building an SDK that enables resilient, assured navigation solutions for autonomous systems operating in contested environments. We are looking for a hands-on technical leader to manage and grow our Navigation and State Estimation team. You'll lead a team of 6+ engineers developing state-of-the-art algorithms for GPS-denied navigation, fusing your expertise in state estimation, PNT technologies, and C++ software development to deliver high-impact autonomy capabilities.

What You'll Do:

• Lead and mentor a high-performing team delivering robust navigation and state estimation solutions for autonomous aerial systems. 
• Drive the technical roadmap, balancing near-term deliveries with long-term innovation. 
• Architect and review solutions in state estimation, sensor fusion, inertial and vision-aided navigation. 
• Maintain high standards of C++ software quality, system validation, and integration performance. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure successful simulation, HITL, and flight test validation. 
• Support hiring, team growth, career development, and external technical representation. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent work experience), typically with a minimum of 10 years of related experience; 9 years with a master’s degree; or 7 years with a PhD.
• Expertise in modern C++ (C++11 or newer) with a strong software engineering foundation. 
• Experience deploying state estimation solution on physical systems in real-world environments 
• Deep knowledge of Kalman filtering, graph optimization, sensor fusion, and inertial navigation systems. 
• Demonstrated success leading engineering projects or small technical teams. 
• Experience delivering autonomy software for robotics, aerospace, or defense platforms. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with VIO, SLAM, factor graph optimization (gtsam, Ceres) for GPS-denied navigation. 
• Background in sensor integration (IMU, GPS, magnetometers, barometers, visual sensors). 
• Familiarity with DoD program requirements, operational testing, and autonomy system assurance. 
• Prior experience managing cross-disciplinary teams in agile environments. 

Additional Information:

• Candidates may complete a technical evaluation, including a design and coding review, as part of the interview process.

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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.

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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.