---
title: 'Senior Engineering Manager at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-engineering-manager-shield-ai-bengaluru-zmgz0m86wc63'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Senior Engineering Manager at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** Bengaluru, India
- **Employment:** internship
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/d618826d-1aff-4516-b02f-8276876061f7

## Job description

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, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. 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 Senior Technical Engineering Manager of Autonomy Applications, you'll lead a team of applications engineers which enable edge-AI and autonomy to platforms across sea, air, and space.. You’ll prioritize and resolve complex issues, mentor your team, and collaborate with internal teams to drive product improvements. With your technical expertise and leadership, you'll play a key role in enhancing customer engagement and supporting the growth of our robotics and autonomy solutions.

What you'll do:

- Become an expert in the Hivemind Autonomy Software Development Kit (SDK).
- Maintain a deep understanding of the SDK’s features, updates, and use cases to guide the team and assist customers.
- Serve as a technical and functional team lead for a team of autonomy applications engineers.
- Guide, mentor, and develop a team of applications engineers to provide expert support and troubleshooting for customers.
- Manage, prioritize and delegate customer issues.
- Contribute via code/design/solutions/architecture to internal and customer projects.
- Support BD in pre-sales and post-sales activities as a technical resource.
- Ensure timely and effective technical assistance, troubleshooting, and onboarding support for customers implementing the SDK.
- Oversee and contribute to the creation and continuous improvement of technical resources, such as user guides, FAQs, and knowledge bases. Act as an escalation point for complex customer issues and provide hands-on support when necessary.
- Coordinate closely with product development, sales, and customer success teams to ensure customer feedback informs SDK improvements and new features.
- Act as a liaison between customers and internal teams to advocate for customer needs and communicate product updates.
- Develop and grow your teammates through mentorship and training.
- Set performance goals, conduct regular evaluations, and foster a collaborative team environment.
- Develop and refine support processes to improve team efficiency, customer satisfaction, and response times.
- Track and report on key metrics related to customer engagement, issue resolution, and team performance to stakeholders.

Examples of Projects You will Lead:

- Autonomous teaming drones.
- Teaming between helicopters and drones.
- Autonomy on Robodogs.
- AI on Fighter Jets… and more that we aren’t allowed to publicly share!

Required qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience of industry experience
- 5+ years of experience in a customer facing engineering role
- 5+ years of experience as an engineering manager
- Strong technical background in software engineering
- Strong proficiency in writing modern C++ code
- Intermediate proficiency in writing Python code
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience developing software for mobile robot / autonomy applications
- Experience in the defense aviation or robotics industry
- Experience building and running a 5–7-person enterprise software applications/solutions engineering team
- Ability to travel to USA for up to 3 months at a time for training

Total package details for U.S. based positions:

- Regular employee positions: Salary within range listed above + Bonus + Benefits + Equity
- Temporary employee positions: Hourly within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)
- Interns/Military Fellows/Part-time not eligible for bonus, benefits or equity

Total package details for International positions which are roles based outside of the United States (where applicable):

- International premium, hardship differential, cost of living differential, living quarters allowance, foreign service transfer allowance, equity, international benefits, visa assistance, and relocation assistance.

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.

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.

## 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

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- [Engineer I, Mechanical Hardware Test](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-i-mechanical-hardware-test-shield-ai-seattle-009txzdn75eb) — Seattle, WA
- [Senior Staff Engineer, Structural Analysis - Ranger (R6300)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engineer-structural-analysis-ranger-r6300-shield-ai-seattle-p24f55m9654f) — Seattle, WA
- [Staff Engineer, Fuel Systems - Ranger (R6299)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-fuel-systems-ranger-r6299-shield-ai-seattle-66cbvba47hb6) — Seattle, WA
- [Staff Engineer, Aircraft Configuration Design - Ranger (R6298)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-aircraft-configuration-design-ranger-r6298-shield-ai-seattle-942h4whh3a76) — Seattle, WA
- [Engineer II, Automated Test (R6288)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-ii-automated-test-r6288-shield-ai-san-mateo-9zrnhj6har1p) — San Mateo, CA
- [Capture Manager - XBAT - USAF (R6205)](https://feeny.ai/job/capture-manager-xbat-usaf-r6205-shield-ai-remote-wk7cq4qwzr70)
- [Manager, Infrastructure (R6154)](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-infrastructure-r6154-shield-ai-san-mateo-ak1zaxmkmbbf) — San Mateo, CA
- [Senior Director, Deal Strategy Execution (R6259)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-deal-strategy-execution-r6259-shield-ai-washington-jjc8weakxqa7) — Washington, DC
- [Staff Engineer, Modelling and Simulation (R6248)](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-engineer-modelling-and-simulation-r6248-shield-ai-san-diego-xe9yvn3mf71x) — San Diego, CA