Staff Engineer, Software (R6114)

Shield AI is hiring a Staff Engineer, Software (R6114) in Seattle, United States. It pays $190k-$290k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Shield AI.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Linux, C and Rust.
Level classifies it as a senior role.
Level lists 651 other open roles at Shield AI.

AI in this role

Build and maintain internal full-stack software tools to support various teams at Shield AI.

linuxcrustsqlreact

full-stacksoftware-developmentweb-development

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:

Join a high-impact software team focused entirely on delivering internal software tools to help other teams at Shield AI. The engineer in this role will help create, manage, deploy, and maintain new full-stack internal software tools. This role offers a unique opportunity to work with many different teams at Shield AI on a variety of different projects. Internal tools range from things as complex as physics analysis of the aircraft to things as simple as a system for tracking tickets. A successful engineer in this role would excel at gathering requirements for the tool, pushing back on bad requirements, and implementing a robust full-stack solution to deliver the best value to the team in need. This role offers high visibility projects that can change the workflows of entire teams for the better.

What you'll do:

Collaborate with other teams at Shield AI to hone tool requirements
Architect a robust full-stack solution to meet the team's needs
Deploy the tool internally for potentially wide reaching benefits
Maintain an existing suite of internal tooling

Required qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
Strong communication skills
Linux Proficiency
Strong low level performant language skills (C/C++ or Rust)
Experience with SQL
Experience using frontend frameworks

Preferred qualifications:

Experience making a full-stack web app
Zero downtime deployment experience
React framework experience
Rust language experience
Microsoft SQL server experience

#LI-AA1 #LD
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

Staff Engineer, Software (R6114) at Shield AI rates 10 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● 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

Staff Engineer, Software (R6114) is an open job at Shield AI.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The listed salary is $190k-$290k a year.
The role is based in Seattle, Washington.
The job was posted on September 25, 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

Full StackSoftware DevelopmentWeb DevelopmentLinuxCRustSQLReact

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where full stack was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where software development was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where web development was part of your work. What did you do?
What's a project where you used Linux hands-on?
Walk me through how you've used C in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Full Stack, Software Development, Web Development, Linux, 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.

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