--- title: 'Staff Field Solutions Engineer (R5644) at Shield AI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-field-solutions-engineer-r5644-shield-ai-melbourne-x7wyy4jgr3fe' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-17' --- # Staff Field Solutions Engineer (R5644) at Shield AI - **Company:** Shield AI - **Location:** Melbourne, Australia - **Employment:** internship - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-09-08 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/shieldai/365ee662-f4e8-4a22-a092-f0d31b8708f3 ## 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: Shield AI is hiring a Hivemind Field Solutions Engineer based in Melbourne, Australia to support technical sales, customer engagements, demonstrations, and capture activities focused on advanced simulation, synthetic environments, image generation systems, and AI-enabled mission systems. This role will support international defense simulation, training, test, and evaluation customers, with a focus on Australia, the Indo-Pacific, AUKUS, and allied defense partners. The Field Solutions Engineer will help customers understand how Shield AI and Aechelon capabilities can support next-generation synthetic battlespace environments, live-virtual-constructive ecosystems, and AI-enabled simulation use cases. This role requires direct, hands-on experience with advanced defense simulation environments and related training, test, and evaluation ecosystems. The ideal candidate should understand image generation systems, platform-in-a-box solutions, threat models, constructive entities, sensor simulation, scenario generation, and LVC architectures. This is a simulation-first role. Autonomy experience is valuable where AI or autonomy is used to run synthetic agents, generate behaviors, drive adversary models, automate scenarios, or improve realism in simulated environments. Real-world autonomy experience is preferred, but the primary requirement is deep simulation domain expertise and strong customer-facing technical communication. What you'll do: - Serve as a customer-facing technical expert for Shield AI simulation, synthetic environment, and AI-enabled mission system capabilities. - Support customer discovery, technical briefings, demonstrations, technical interchange meetings, RFIs, RFPs, proposals, white papers, and capture activities. - Translate customer mission needs, training objectives, test requirements, CONOPs, and integration considerations into credible solution concepts. - Support engagements involving advanced defense simulation, training, test, and evaluation environments across Australia, the Indo-Pacific, AUKUS, and allied markets. - Explain image generation systems, synthetic environments, PAIBs, threat models, LVC architectures, sensor simulation, scenario generation, and AI-enabled synthetic agents to technical, operational, commercial, and leadership audiences. - Partner with Business Development, Capture, Product, Engineering, Customer Engagement, Program, and technical teams to represent customer requirements, risks, roadmap gaps, and field feedback. - Help customers evaluate how advanced simulation and synthetic environments can support operational training, mission rehearsal, test and evaluation, experimentation, force modernization, and AI/autonomy development. - Develop technical sales assets, including capability briefs, demo scripts, solution templates, FAQs, white papers, technical explainers, and customer-specific briefing materials. - Maintain product truth by ensuring customer-facing materials and discussions accurately reflect current capabilities, constraints, roadmap timing, and integration considerations. - Build trusted relationships with customer technical stakeholders, operational users, acquisition stakeholders, regional partners, and internal cross-functional teams. Required qualifications: - 7+ years of experience in modeling and simulation, training systems, test and evaluation, image generation systems, synthetic environments, defense software, aerospace systems, solutions engineering, systems engineering, field applications engineering, technical sales, or related technical customer-facing roles. - Direct hands-on experience with advanced defense simulation, training, or test environments, or similar synthetic battlespace ecosystems. - Practical experience with image generation systems, platform-in-a-box systems, synthetic environments, threat models, constructive entities, sensor simulation, scenario generation, or live-virtual-constructive environments. - Strong understanding of how simulation systems are used for operational training, mission rehearsal, experimentation, test and evaluation, and capability development. - Experience supporting customer-facing technical engagements, proposal efforts, integration discussions, technical interchange meetings, or operational workshops. - Ability to translate customer requirements, mission needs, training objectives, and technical constraints into feasible solution concepts, requirements, demos, and product feedback. - Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical systems to technical, operational, commercial, and leadership audiences. - Ability to work cross-functionally with Business Development, Product, Engineering, Customer Engagement, Program teams, technical SMEs, and regional partners. - Strong judgment in representing product capabilities, limitations, roadmap dependencies, and integration considerations to customers. - Willingness and ability to travel internationally for customer engagements, demonstrations, exercises, and internal meetings. - Ability to work from or regularly support activities in Melbourne, Australia. - Professional fluency in English. Preferred qualifications: - Experience supporting defense simulation, training, test, or experimentation customers in Australia, the Indo-Pacific, AUKUS, or allied international markets. - Experience working with Australian Defence Force, Australian defense industry, government, aerospace, training, simulation, or national security stakeholders. - Experience with AI-enabled synthetic agents, computer-generated forces, adversary behavior models, automated scenario generation, or AI-driven entity behavior in simulated environments. - Real-world autonomy experience, including autonomous aircraft, unmanned systems, robotics, AI-enabled mission systems, or autonomy software. - Familiarity with LVC architectures, simulation interoperability, DIS/HLA, test infrastructure, training range integration, or distributed simulation environments. - Hands-on experience with Python, C++, Linux, APIs, SDKs, simulation tooling, visualization systems, autonomy software, robotics middleware, or technical prototyping. - Prior military, defense, aerospace, simulation, test, training, robotics, unmanned systems, or advanced software experience. - Experience working across varied customer cultures, acquisition processes, operational concepts, and partner ecosystems. #LD 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, colour, 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 - [Engineer I, Mechanical (R6302)](https://feeny.ai/job/engineer-i-mechanical-r6302-shield-ai-seattle-75gdhfp3k8nt) — Seattle, WA - [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