Autonomy & Perception Software Engineer (R5911)

Shield AI is hiring an Autonomy & Perception Software Engineer (R5911) in San Diego, United States. It pays $165k-$300k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Level.

AI in this role

Autonomy and perception software engineer developing computer vision and sensor fusion algorithms for unmanned aircraft systems.

computer-visionsensor-fusionobject-trackingroboticsstate-estimation

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:

Help build perception software that works beyond the lab. Shield AI’s Perception team builds software that helps autonomous aircraft and vehicles understand their surroundings and make decisions in the real world. We’re looking for an experienced engineer who enjoys solving difficult perception problems and turning those solutions into reliable autonomy capabilities.

You’ll bring depth in an area such as object tracking, classical/ML-based detection, computer vision, optimal state estimation, or sensor fusion. Working alongside autonomy, simulation, platform, and test engineers, you’ll take capabilities from an initial idea through deployment in the Hivemind product.

How we rate this

Autonomy & Perception Software Engineer (R5911) at Shield AI rates 85 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Builds AI (AI Level 4 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Builds AI. The job is building AI systems.

●●●● 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. Open the description and count.

Key facts

Autonomy & Perception Software Engineer (R5911) is an open job at Shield AI.
Level rates this role AI Level 4 of 4: Builds AI.
The listed salary is $165k-$300k a year.
The role is based in San Diego, California.
The job was posted on September 9, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
Applications are handled by Shield AI. Apply on Shield AI

Prepare for this job

A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Computer visionSensor FusionObject TrackingRoboticsState Estimation

Questions you could be asked

Walk me through a computer vision problem you solved, from raw data to a deployed model.
Tell me about a project where sensor fusion was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where object tracking 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 state estimation was part of your work. What did you do?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Computer vision, Sensor Fusion, Object Tracking, Robotics, and State Estimation. 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.
Lead with what you built, trained or shipped. This role is judged on the AI system itself, not the tools around it.

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