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:
As the Senior Manager of Software Test, you will lead the verification and validation of autonomy, mission-oriented, avionics software for Shield AI’s next-gen aircraft systems. These platforms demand the highest levels of system integrity, operational reliability, and test rigor. Your role will center around designing scalable, automated test infrastructure, validating mission-critical behaviors across simulation and real aircraft environments, and enabling rapid, safe deployment of software to flight operations. You’ll partner closely with engineering, product, and flight test teams to ensure the system is testable, traceable, and always ready for mission.
This role focuses on accelerating software maturity and validation through rigorous, automated, and traceable testing practices for the VBAT platform.
What you'll do:
- Build a world class software and system test infrastructure for rapid software deployments
- Own end-to-end system test strategy for software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and vehicle-in-the-loop (VIL) environments—scaling them for continuous integration and rapid release cycles.
- Design and implement mission-critical system test cases validating autonomous behaviors, requirements compliance, and operational edge cases across nominal, safety-critical, and degraded conditions.
- Coordinate and execute flight test and software release campaigns, working cross-functionally with autonomy, embedded systems, flight ops, and safety engineering teams.
Required qualifications:
- BS or MS in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or related field
- 8+ years of experience in software testing, systems testing, or verification & validation for complex, safety-critical or mission-critical systems (autonomy, aerospace, defense, robotics, UAVs, etc.)
- 3+ years of experience leading teams, including some experience managing other managers
- Strong proficiency in test automation, scripting, data analysis, and test infrastructure development
- Hands-on experience building and maintaining automated test frameworks (SIL, HIL, VIL, CI/CD pipelines)
- Experience validating autonomous behaviors or distributed real-time systems
- Deep understanding of software verification methodologies, including requirements traceability, test planning, and regression testing
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testbeds, embedded systems, or avionics integration
- Ability to design system-level test cases including edge cases, degraded modes, and safety-critical scenarios
- Strong ability to work cross-functionally with autonomy, avionics, embedded, and flight ops teams
- Excellent communication and documentation skills, especially around test plans, procedures, and safety considerations
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), rotorcraft, or airborne mission systems
- Knowledge of DO-178C, MIL-STD-882, STANAG, or other safety/airworthiness frameworks
- Experience with simulation tools (Gazebo, Isaac, ROS/ROS2 simulation, custom autonomy sims, etc.)
- Experience with continuous integration systems (Jenkins, GitLab CI, Buildkite, etc.)
- Knowledge of autonomy algorithms (navigation, planning, perception) sufficient to design adversarial or mission-based test scenarios
- Comfort operating in dynamic R&D environments where rapid iteration and tight feedback loops are the norm
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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.
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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.
