---
title: 'Senior Staff Engineer, GCS / Communications Systems (R5020) at Shield AI'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-engineer-gcs-communications-systems-r5020-shield-ai-san-diego-6j679gmg3rpq'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Senior Staff Engineer, GCS / Communications Systems (R5020) at Shield AI

- **Company:** Shield AI
- **Location:** San Diego, CA
- **Compensation:** $170k–$250k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-05-22
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/0bad72df-12eb-45bf-ba1c-9f76f40b26f6

## 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.

Job Description: We are seeking a GCS / Communications Systems Engineer to lead the development, integration, and validation of ground control station and communication architectures supporting advanced military aircraft and autonomous systems. This role directly impacts mission effectiveness, command and control reliability, platform connectivity, and operational resiliency by ensuring robust communication between air, ground, and distributed mission systems. The engineer will define system behaviors, operational workflows, and communication architectures across the full lifecycle, from concept development through flight and operational test. This role plays a critical part in reducing integration risk, improving network resiliency, and accelerating deployment of mission-critical communication capabilities.

What you'll do:

- Define GCS and communication system behaviors, operational workflows, and activity diagrams to ensure reliable command, control, telemetry, payload, and mission data exchange
- Develop and integrate communication architectures including RF links, SATCOM, LOS/BLOS datalinks, networking infrastructure, antennas, encryption devices, and mission control interfaces
- Lead cross-functional integration between avionics, mission systems, networking, cybersecurity, software, and test teams to improve system interoperability and reduce integration risk
- Develop and validate interface definitions, network architectures, link budgets, and communication performance requirements for airborne and ground-based systems
- Support lab, field, and flight test activities to troubleshoot communication issues, validate network performance, and improve operational resiliency and mission readiness

Required qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field
- 5+ years of experience in communications systems, networking, mission systems, or military aerospace integration
- Experience with GCS architectures, datalinks, RF systems, networking, or airborne communication systems
- Familiarity with LOS/BLOS communications, SATCOM, IP networking, encryption technologies, and hardware/software integration environments
- Strong systems engineering, troubleshooting, and cross-functional communication skills
- Ability to obtain a S//SAR level security clearance desired.

Preferred qualifications:

- Experience supporting UAV, fighter aircraft, autonomous systems, or military communication networks
- Experience defining operational behaviors, activity diagrams, CONOPS, or system architectures using MBSE tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler
- Background in integration labs, flight test, network resiliency, or tactical communication systems
- Familiarity with cybersecurity, RMF, resilient communications, and contested environment operations
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance preferred

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.

## 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)

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