Software Careers

Staff Engineer, Software Perception (R3554)

Shield Ai (View all Jobs)

Washington DC Metro Area

Programming Languages Mentioned

C++, Python

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Pilot, Commander, and Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide.  For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X and Instagram.    

Job Description:
Shield AI is seeking a deeply skilled C++ software engineer to serve as the technical conscience of software quality, architecture, and deployment practices within our cross-functional perception team. This role focuses on building and deploying high-performance video processing pipelines—optimized for both CPU-only and GPU-accelerated environments—as well as designing and maintaining a robust and scalable C++ SDK ecosystem. 

We are not looking for Python-centric ML/DL practitioners. This role is ideal for someone who lives and breathes modern C++, understands the rigor of flight-critical software, and has a passion for developer experience, automation, and software quality at scale. 
What you'll do:
  • Design, implement, and maintain modular video processing pipelines in modern C++ for edge-deployable perception systems 
  • Develop both CPU-only and GPU-accelerated variants using technologies like CUDA, OpenGL, and multi-threaded processing 
  • Drive SDK architecture and tooling used by perception, autonomy, and integration teams 
  • Lead efforts in C++ package management ensuring reliable versioning, dependency resolution, and deployment workflows 
  • Guide the team in achieving cross-platform compatibility, particularly across x86 and ARM targets 
  • Set standards and best practices for CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and deployment 
  • Take ownership of resolving complex integration and deployment issues across our codebase 
  • Contribute to or guide compliance with DO-178C or similar standards for safety- or flight-critical software 
  • Mentor engineers and promote a strong culture of code quality, architectural rigor, and maintainability 
  • Evaluate and integrate new tools and technologies to continuously improve our development and deployment pipelines 
    • Required qualifications:
  • 5+ years of experience in modern C++ (C++11 or later) in a Linux environment 
  • Demonstrated experience architecting and implementing real-time video/image processing pipelines 
  • Strong understanding of multithreading, memory management, and performance optimization 
  • Experience with GPU programming (e.g., CUDA, OpenGL) in production environments 
  • Proficiency in setting up and maintaining CI/CD workflows for C++ projects 
  • Strong background in C++ package management (preferably Conan) and deployment automation 
  • Experience working with or developing under DO-178C or similar safety-critical software standards 
  • Experience building software that runs on both x86 and ARM architectures 
  • Track record of mentoring team members and scaling engineering best practices 
    • Preferred qualifications:
  • Experience deploying C++ perception software to embedded or airborne platforms 
  • Familiarity with GStreamer or OpenCV for media handling and image pipelines 
  • Prior work on high-reliability autonomy, aerospace, or robotics platforms 
    • 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.