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. Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI's technology actively supports operations worldwide. The Autonomous Pilot Integration team for expeditionary platforms builds autonomy solutions for V-BAT — an unmanned aircraft operating in expeditionary environments for ISR, target acquisition, communications, and multi-agent missions. The team also builds autonomy for X-BAT, a new platform under development by the aircraft team; We combine capabilities from the Autonomy Capabilities team (motion planning, tactics), the Perception team (e.g., ViDAR, ATR), and the HivemindSDK to develop the autonomy software that runs on these platforms, then integrate, validate, and field it on the real hardware — for U.In this role, you'll develop new autonomy capabilities — including mission behaviors, platform-specific control (including VTOL transitions), multi-agent coordination, contingencies, and executive autonomy — and own major features from software-in-the-loop, to hardware-in-the-loop, to vehicle-in-the-loop, to live flight test. You'll partner closely with the Aircraft team, Autonomy Capabilities, Perception, GCS, feature crews, and customer stakeholders to deliver mission-ready autonomy software and solve complex integration challenges. As a senior engineer, you'll provide technical leadership across major capabilities, mentor teammates, influence architecture and integration strategy,



and help drive successful field deployments for both mature and emerging expeditionary platforms.

It's a hands-on role for engineers who want to see their software operate on real aircraft and directly support operators in the field.

Develop & Field Autonomy– Develop and integrate autonomy software for V-BAT and X-BAT, including mission behaviors, platform-specific control, payload and sensor integration (e.g., ViDAR, EO/IR), multi-agent coordination, contingencies, and executive autonomy. Own major features from software-in-the-loop through live flight testing.

Aircraft Team Partnership– Collaborate closely with the Aircraft team to integrate autonomy capabilities, validate platform interfaces, coordinate hardware/software compatibility, and support release readiness.

Pre-deployment Preparation– Build, configure, validate, and prepare mission-ready systems while ensuring software, hardware, and operator workflows are ready for deployment.

On-site Test & Mission Support– Support flight tests, customer demonstrations, operator training, and deployment events through system bring-up, troubleshooting, and mission execution.

Hardware/SoftwareDebugging– Diagnose integration issues across autonomy software, payload computers, embedded systems,



and platform interfaces using simulation and operational testing.

Mission Data & Continuous Improvement– Analyze mission data, drive root-cause analysis, and build tools and processes that improve integration efficiency and mission reliability.

C2 Interoperability & Standards– Implement and validate interfaces with GCS and command-and-control systems while supporting compliance with STANAG ****, UCI, and OMS.

Travel Requirement– Members of this team typically travel around *****% of the year to different office locations, customer sites, operator training events, flight tests, and integration exercises.

BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Strong C++ development experience in real-time or embedded systems.

Experience with Linux-based development and embedded systems.

Experience integrating complex software systems and troubleshooting across hardware/software boundaries.

Experience supporting system integration, testing, or field events.

Experience with autonomy software, robotics, or vehicle control.

Python, Docker, CMake/Conan, or CI/CD experience.

Experience with military test events or defense customers.

$Full-time regular employee offer package:

Temporary employee offer package:

Pay within range listed above + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)

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📌 Senior Software Engineer, Services (Madrid)
🏢 shieldai
📍 Madrid