Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation

Shield AI is hiring an Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation in San Diego, United States. It pays $136k-$204k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Shield AI.

Level's read on this job

Works on AI ●●●○ is how Level rates this role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
Tools and skills the posting cites include C, Linux and technical writing.
Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
Level lists 659 other open roles at Shield AI.
The role was posted in the last few days.

AI in this role

Autonomy Engineer specializing in technical documentation to support robotic autonomy software and SDK products.

CLinux

technical-writingroboticsautonomysoftware-engineering

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.

The Hivemind Division of Shield AI seeks a highly skilled and detail-oriented Autonomy Engineer with Technical Writing Skills to join our team. The ideal candidate will have a background in software engineering and robotics and be able to become a superuser of our Hivemind Enterprise product: a software product that enables scalable design, deployment, evaluation, and iteration of autonomy architectures for a wide range of robotic platforms. This role requires you to be able to work cross-functionally with developers across engineering teams and learn to use the Hivemind SDK product, then draft your knowledge into well-written technical documentation and clearly communicated tutorials capable of being followed by customers with wide differences in skills and level of experience.

What you'll do:

Become an expert user of the Hivemind Enterprise product.
Contribute to the selection of documentation creation platforms and tools.
Work with developers and our Customer Engagement team to generate technical writing to describe product functionalities.
Generate diagrams, flow charts, and other visual aids to describe supported workflows.
Devise a strategy for connecting auto-generated API documentation with hand-written user guides.

Required qualifications:

Background in robotics and autonomy.
Coding proficiency with C++.
Highly proficient at technical writing (academic papers, technical tutorials, software product documentation, etc.).
Strong understanding of what excellence in software product documentation looks like.
Comfortable working in a Linux environment.
Fast thinker, fast doer, able to generate results rapidly with minimal input in order to unblock iteration.
Excellent communicator.

Preferred qualifications:

Familiar with software engineering practices with regards to software versioning, packaging, deployment.
Experience within the aviation and/or aerospace industry.

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.

How we rate this

Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation at Shield AI rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Autonomy Engineer, Technical Documentation is an open job at Shield AI.
Level rates this role AI Level 3 of 4: Works on AI.
The listed salary is $136k-$204k a year.
The role is based in San Diego, California.
The job was posted on November 6, 2026.
Seniority: mid.
Applications are handled by Shield AI. Apply on Shield AI

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Technical WritingRoboticsAutonomySoftware EngineeringCLinux

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where technical writing was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where robotics was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where autonomy was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where software engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used C in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Technical Writing, Robotics, Autonomy, Software Engineering, and C. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.

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