Manager, Autonomy Applications Engineering (R5188)

Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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:

Shield AI is seeking a Manager, Autonomy Applications Engineering to lead a team of Forward Deployed Engineers supporting customer deployment, adoption, and operational success with the Hivemind SDK. This is a highly technical, customer-facing leadership role focused on enabling the team to deliver excellent on-site customer support, deployment execution, and success in real-world environments. The manager will own team performance, customer outcomes, and the flow of actionable field feedback back into the company.

In this role, you will manage, coach, and develop Forward Deployed Engineers who work directly with customer operators, engineers, and technical stakeholders to support onboarding, deployment, troubleshooting, and sustained use of Hivemind. You will help the team navigate complex technical environments, translate mission and program goals into concrete technical milestones, and drive progress during active engagements. You will also partner closely with internal engineering, product, Applications Engineering, and program teams to improve customer readiness, product usability, deployment playbooks, and long-term customer success.

This role includes up to 30% travel, including frequent customer site visits and oversight of active customer engagements.

Job Description:

Shield AI is seeking a Manager, Autonomy Applications Engineering to lead a team of Forward Deployed Engineers supporting customer deployment, adoption, and operational success with the Hivemind SDK. This is a highly technical, customer-facing leadership role focused on enabling the team to deliver excellent on-site customer support, deployment execution, and success in real-world environments. The manager will own team performance, customer outcomes, and the flow of actionable field feedback back into the company.

In this role, you will manage, coach, and develop Forward Deployed Engineers who work directly with customer operators, engineers, and technical stakeholders to support onboarding, deployment, troubleshooting, and sustained use of Hivemind. You will help the team navigate complex technical environments, translate mission and program goals into concrete technical milestones, and drive progress during active engagements. You will also partner closely with internal engineering, product, Applications Engineering, and program teams to improve customer readiness, product usability, deployment playbooks, and long-term customer success.

This role includes up to 30% travel, including frequent customer site visits and oversight of active customer engagements.

What you'll do:

Lead, manage, mentor, and develop a team of Forward Deployed Engineers responsible for customer deployments and technical customer success

Own team planning, prioritization, staffing, and execution for on-site and virtual customer engagements

Provide technical leadership for customer onboarding, deployment, adoption, and operational success with the Hivemind SDK

Serve as an escalation point and trusted technical leader for customers using Hivemind in real-world environments

Translate customer goals, mission needs, and program objectives into clear technical milestones, execution plans, and team priorities

Drive accountability across the team for achieving intended customer outcomes during active engagements

Guide the team through debugging and resolution of complex software and integration issues

Partner with customer teams and internal stakeholders to remove blockers, improve time-to-value, and sustain adoption

Build mechanisms to collect, synthesize, and communicate recurring customer pain points, product gaps, and field insights to internal teams

Represent the voice of the customer in internal planning and prioritization discussions

Collaborate with product and engineering teams to improve product quality, usability, deployment readiness, and repeatable field execution

You should apply if:

You enjoy leading technical teams while staying close to customers and field execution

You are energized by coaching engineers through dynamic on-site challenges in real operational contexts

You can translate ambiguous customer needs into structured technical plans, team priorities, and measurable outcomes

You are comfortable making decisions, removing blockers, and helping a team drive progress under pressure

You have strong engineering fundamentals and can build credibility quickly with technical stakeholders, customers, and direct reports

You enjoy working across engineering, product, and customer teams to improve both product outcomes and customer success

You are passionate about or have great interest in autonomy, robotics, aerospace, defense technology, or deploying advanced software in the field

Required qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field

8+ years of relevant technical experience in software engineering, deployment engineering, solutions engineering, applications engineering, or forward deployed engineering

2+ years of people management or formal technical leadership experience for engineers

Experience in a customer-facing technical leadership role such as forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, applications engineering, or customer engineering

Strong technical background in software engineering, including the ability to review and debug complex systems and guide technical tradeoffs

Strong proficiency with modern C++ and experience with Python in a professional setting

Excellent communication, presentation, interpersonal, coaching, and people leadership skills

Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with sound judgment under pressure

Ability to operate with a high degree of autonomy and accountability in ambiguous environments while leading a team through ambiguity

Ability to travel up to 30%

Preferred qualifications:

3+ years of experience working in a startup environment

Experience managing or leading teams in the defense, robotics, aerospace, or autonomous systems industry

Experience building or scaling a forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, applications engineering, or customer engineering function

Experience gathering field feedback, influencing product direction based on customer needs, and establishing repeatable customer success playbooks

Founded in 2015, 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 and V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft. 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. #LI-LD2 #LD
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. 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.