---
title: 'Chief Engineer, Weapons at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/chief-engineer-weapons-shield-ai-london-dmzf1e9yjzqx'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Chief Engineer, Weapons at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/8467cb7d-74e6-453b-ba7b-c8d683048b4d

## Job description

The Chief Engineer at Shield AI is responsible for solving complex technical challenges in deploying advanced autonomy solutions on unmanned weapon systems. As the chief authority on system architecture, design, development, risk mitigation, and product quality, the Chief Engineer ensures the successful integration of Hivemind Autonomy across a range of unmanned weapon systems. This role is part of the Hivemind Solutions organization and leads a team of engineers to deliver cutting-edge autonomous capabilities for business-to-business and defense contracts. The ideal candidate has defense industry experience as a Chief Engineer and a proven track record of leading technical teams to develop and deploy autonomous weapon systems.

What you'll do:

- Serve as the Chief Engineer on Shield AI projects focused on developing and deploying autonomy solutions for unmanned weapon systems.
- Lead a team responsible for advancing Hivemind Autonomy and shaping defense autonomy architectures.
- Define and assign technical objectives, make key engineering decisions, and ensure the quality and completeness of all technical deliverables.
- Provide technical leadership and oversight across both Internal Research and Development (IRAD) initiatives and defense contracts.

Required qualifications:

- BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering, and/or similar degree
- 10+ years of industry experience in autonomy and/or unmanned weapon systems (e.g., defense tech, self-driving cars, etc.)
- 7+ years of delivering software into production/certifiable environments with high reliability
- Understanding of guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) (e.g., controls, estimation, planning)
- Understanding of the robotics stack (e.g., controls, estimation, perception, planning, etc.)
- Understanding of software development processes and how to effectively deploy software
- Experience defining technical scope and managing technical requirements, product architectures, ICDs, and other system-level design documentation
- Demonstrated problem-solving skills through the application of a scientific and technical approach
- Customer-facing engineering leadership supporting both defense and internally funded development programs
- Ability to contribute to government contract proposal writing
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
- Excellent leadership skills, with experience leading a team of 6–20 engineers

Preffered Qualificatons:

- UK security clearance

## About Shield AI

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Shield AI builds AI pilots and autonomous systems for military aircraft to protect service members and civilians.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series G, venture-backed)
- **Headquarters**: San Diego, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Brandon Tseng, Ryan Tseng, Andrew Reiter

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Defense technology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, aerospace
- Target customers: U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations’ military forces (B2G / Government)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems.”

## Products & Services
- **Hivemind**: A combat‑tested, modular autonomy stack for aircraft – self‑driving technology for drones, jets, and helicopters. Includes path‑planning, mapping, state‑estimation, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. Type: Software (AI/autonomy).
- **V‑BAT**: A vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed for persistent ISR and strike missions. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **X‑BAT**: An advanced unmanned aircraft system with extended endurance and payload capacity, built for multi‑domain operations. Type: Hardware (drone).
- **Hivemind Vision Systems**: Computer‑vision and sensor‑fusion capabilities integrated into Hivemind for GPS‑denied environments. Type: Software + sensors.
- **Hivemind Enterprise**: A deployable version of Hivemind for third‑party platforms and commercial applications. Type: Software.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (private company). Total funding raised: $3.6B (as of Series G in March 2026).
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue ~$21.7M (estimated, private) | Total Funding $3.6B (including $2B Series G led by JP Morgan Chase and Advent International, March 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: JP Morgan Chase, Advent International, Blackstone, Riot Ventures, SnowPoint Ventures, Disruptive (55+ investors total). Strategic partners include U.S. DoD and allied defense forces.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 68.3% YoY to 1,283 employees; 338 active job postings (+57.2% YoY); operates in 5 countries (U.S., Australia, UAE, Norway, Ukraine); recent acquisitions of Sentient Vision Systems (2024), Heron Systems, MARTIN UAV.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Combat‑proven autonomy**: Hivemind has been tested in live military operations, providing a first‑mover advantage in contested, GPS‑denied environments.
- **Full‑stack integration**: Combines software (AI pilot), hardware (V‑BAT, X‑BAT), and sensor systems, creating a tightly integrated product ecosystem.
- **Cross‑functional engineering culture**: Engineers work across AI, robotics, aerospace, and defense – not siloed – enabling rapid iteration and field deployment.
- **Top talent pipeline**: Employees drawn from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Amazon, Anduril, and other leading defense/tech firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale AI pilots across all domains**: Extend Hivemind from aircraft to ships, satellites, and ground vehicles (“every military asset”).
- **International expansion**: Growing presence in Australia, Europe, and Middle East via mission autonomy centers and partnerships.
- **Deepen autonomy stack**: Continued investment in reinforcement learning, simulation, and computer vision to maintain leadership in contested‑environment autonomy.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission‑driven work**: Directly contribute to protecting service members and civilians with cutting‑edge AI and robotics.
- **Cross‑functional teams**: Engineers collaborate across disciplines (AI, hardware, software, systems) on real‑world defense challenges.
- **Benefits**: Excellent medical coverage, mental health EAP, paid parental leave, pet insurance, flexible work hours, gym discounts (SD) / on‑site gym (DC), free parking, competitive compensation, 401k with match, stock benefits.
- **Work policy**: Flexible work hours; some offices (e.g., San Diego HQ, Arlington, DC) have on‑site facilities. Remote/hybrid options available depending on role.
- **Growth trajectory**: Rapidly scaling (68% headcount growth) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, operations, and program management.

## Sources
1. [shield.ai/about](https://shield.ai/about/)
2. [shield.ai/careers](https://shield.ai/careers/)
3. [LinkedIn – Shield AI](https://www.linkedin.com/company/shield-ai)
4. [CBInsights – Shield AI](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/shield-ai)
5. [Lever – Shield AI Jobs](https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai)

## Other roles at Shield AI

- [Senior V-BAT Air Vehicle Operator, Field Integration and Test (R5130)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-v-bat-air-vehicle-operator-field-integration-and-test-r5130-shield-ai-8ychv8kkv7qh) — Dallas, TX
- [Staff Platform Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-platform-engineer-shield-ai-san-diego-t739q0cnehtg) — San Diego, CA
- [Principal Engineer, Fluid & Thermal Systems (R5620)](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-engineer-fluid-thermal-systems-r5620-shield-ai-seattle-jzpbwfsaek36) — Seattle, WA
- [Director, Mission Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/director-mission-systems-shield-ai-washington-96nmd081cj08) — Washington, DC
- [Staff Engineer, Safety - X-BAT (R5844)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-safety-x-bat-r5844-shield-ai-seattle-qmh74thwt7xs) — Seattle, WA
- [Senior Production Planner, Development Programs (R5277)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-production-planner-development-programs-r5277-shield-ai-seattle-nj57x3fgq8b7) — Seattle, WA
- [Mission Systems Software Engineer (R5888)](https://feeny.ai/job/mission-systems-software-engineer-r5888-shield-ai-seattle-yw43sjwwgsn0) — Seattle, WA
- [Field Marketing Manager, India](https://feeny.ai/job/field-marketing-manager-india-shield-ai-delhi-4y6c5baq31qg) — Delhi, India
- [Senior Staff Engineer, Mission Architect (R5876)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engineer-mission-architect-r5876-shield-ai-washington-5ftkg2h8j234) — Washington, DC
- [Engineer II, Future Concepts (R5910)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-ii-future-concepts-r5910-shield-ai-washington-p66bm4ktv41m) — Washington, DC