Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (5961)

Shield AI is hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (5961) in London, United Kingdom. Level rates it ; you can apply on Shield AI.

Level's read on this job

Works on AI ●●●○ is how Level rates this forward deployed engineer role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
The posting mentions C, Sdk and software engineering among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Shield AI has 657 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Lead the deployment and technical support of AI autonomy software and SDK applications for enterprise defense customers.

CSdk

software-engineeringroboticsautonomycustomer-support

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.

Our Forward Deployed Engineer are technical, customer-facing problem solvers who play a critical role in deploying Shield AI’s Hivemind software in real-world environments.

In this role, you will work closely with customers to understand their requirements, provide technical expertise and customer support during deployment, and ensure successful integration of Hivemind. You’ll also collaborate internally with engineering teams to develop and test new autonomy capabilities.

What You'll Do

Deploy with customers on site (~30% travel) to support software integration and development activities.
Become an expert user of the Hivemind enterprise software stack and its various autonomy modules.
Provide technical support and training to customers on use of Hivemind.
Develop AI & Autonomy applications using the Shield AI enterprise software development kit.
Assist the sales team in pre-sales activities, e.g., demos, conferences, immersions
Assist in post-sales deployment and integration of Shield AI enterprise software products.
Develop and maintain technical documentation and training materials.
Help customers debug software/API integration issues.
Collaborate with the product engineering team to address customer feedback and improve products.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, and 5+ years of industry experience or
Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, and 3+ years of industry experience.
Strong technical background in software engineering.
Strong proficiency in writing modern C++ code.
Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in the defense, aviation, autonomy, or robotics industry.
Prior experience as a customer-facing solutions engineer, application engineer, or sales engineer.
Experience operating in a fast-paced, startup-like, environment.
Advanced technical degree, especially in robotics or autonomy related fields

Our international teammates receive a comprehensive total rewards package aligned to your country office location. For full details on compensation and benefits, please consult your talent acquisition partner.

How we rate this

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (5961) 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

Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (5961) is an open job at Shield AI.
Level rates this role AI Level 3 of 4: Works on AI.
The role is based in London.
The job was posted on September 23, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
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

Software EngineeringRoboticsAutonomyCustomer SupportCSdk

Also common in forward deployed engineer jobs at this level

Python TypeScript LLM AI agents JavaScript AWS

Pay

Typical forward deployed engineer job: $180k

This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical forward deployed engineer figure when pay comes up. See forward deployed engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where software engineering 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 customer support 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: Software Engineering, Robotics, Autonomy, Customer Support, 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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