Engineer I, GNC

Shield AI • Dallas, TX

21h • $116,488 - $160,000

About The Position

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world’s best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown a fighter jet (F-16), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (V-BAT), and a quadcopter (Nova). The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC and abroad. Shield AI’s products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies.

The GNC team focuses on researching and developing state-of-the-art algorithms that drive high-performance flight for the VBAT and XBAT, both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. As a Controls Engineer on this team, you’ll work on an agile, mission-driven, and values-focused team grounded in first principles to push the boundaries of the state-of-the-art.

Requirements

• BS or higher in Aerospace, Aeronautical, Mechanical, Electrical, or Software Engineering with a focus on Control Systems
• Experience tuning and optimizing control systems in simulation and real-world for stability and performance
• Experience with C++ in a production environment
• Experience with data analysis tools
• Passion for solving complex problems in a fast-moving environment
• Demonstrated record of working hard, strong communication skills, being a trustworthy teammate, and being kind to others

Nice To Haves

• Two years or more of professional experience in the area of robotics, vehicle dynamics modeling, aircraft flight controls, or simulation
• Experience with C++ 17 or newer
• Familiarity with git, bash, Python
• Familiarity with best practices for software engineering, such as test-driven development, continuous integration & delivery, containerization, etc.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and optimize flight control systems for a family of advanced unmanned VTOL vehicles
• Execute simulations and real-world tests of VTOL vehicles
• Extract linear aircraft state space models from nonlinear models
• Update system models leveraging system identification techniques, both offline and online
• Root-cause, triage, and resolve flight control system defects
• Improve test infrastructure, including improvements to unit test coverage, simulation fidelity, analysis tools, etc.
• Support roadmapping and planning for next-generation flight control systems
• Work with hardware teams to design and select servos, propulsion systems, inertial navigation systems, air data units, vision-based navigation systems, etc.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level