Principal Software Engineer, APIs and Infrastructure - Shield AI

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. 

Hivemind Design (HMD) is an innovative simulation, data science, and infrastructure team at Shield AI. We own the tools for designing, developing, testing, deploying and evaluating instances of the Hivemind AI pilot and commander. Our software products enable companies to construct and control sophisticated autonomous systems, and therefore we are transforming the future of autonomy. We are committed to excellence, driving innovations that prepare autonomous agents for the most critical missions. 

The Hivemind Design product is Shield AIs AI Factory; a service-oriented architecture leveraged through an SDK, CLI, and web portal. Our focus is on leveraging both virtualized and bare-metal infrastructure to orchestrate autonomous agents in sophisticated simulations, dynamically configure test beds, and pioneer software configurations and deployments on robotic systems. The HMD team is not only solving problems; we are tasked with setting new benchmarks in technology and delivering unparalleled user experiences. 

We pride ourselves on a diverse team of experts from fields such as computer science, aerospace, game design, and distributed simulation systems. This diversity fuels our innovative spirit, in an environment that values creativity, teamwork, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.  

As a Principal Engineer you’ll help lead the development of the HMD product APIs and server infrastructure. Our hybrid cloud platform is the backbone of HMD, facilitating robust development environments and operational excellence. Were looking for an engineer with a visionary outlook and a solid track record in on-premises and cloud-based environments to help lead our API and Infrastructure initiatives. 

What Youll Do:

• Implement robust APIs and middleware solutions to facilitate seamless interaction between simulated and real agents.  

• Drive the deployment and configuration of agents on various hardware platforms, from embedded devices to cloud servers, ensuring efficient resource utilization and performance optimization. 

• Define requirements and specifications for the hybrid infrastructure needed for the HMD Orchestration, Analysis, Reinforcement Learning and Simulation products, considering factors such as networking, communication protocols, middleware integration, load balancing, scalability, and security. 

• Contribute to the integrated installer command line tool and APIs for Hivemind software 

• Implement comprehensive documentation and tutorials to onboard internal engineers and external clients quickly, providing clear instructions on how to use HMD products to develop and deploy autonomy solutions effectively. 

Required Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 14 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 12 years experience; or equivalent experience.

• 10+ years of hands-on experience in designing and developing production quality software systems. 

• 3+ years demonstrated experience with cloud computing solutions and architecture, with a focus on Kubernetes and container orchestration 

• 3+ years experience developing and distributing web APIs, including proficiency with gRPC and RESTful APIs. 

• Experience with Authentication and Authorization frameworks and protocols (e.g., Keycloak, OAuth2, etc.) 

• Advanced experiencewith Golang and Python 

• Solid understanding of network protocols (UDP, TCP), with experience in designing and implementing networked applications. 

• BS/MS in Computer Science, similar degree, or equivalent practical experience 

• Demonstrated record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with developing and deploying Helm Charts   

• Experience with packaging and distributing Debian packages 

• Experience with network tools such as Serf, Wireshark, and Traffic Cop. 

• Experience with CUE 

• Experience in relational databases, automated migrations, and canary deployments 

• Prior experience in a highly regulated industry, such as aerospace or government contracting, with a focus on secure and compliant software development practices 

• Experience with C++ 

$210,119.60 - $315,179.40 a year