Senior Principal Architect, Hivemind Product (R3667)

As an Architect on the Hivemind product engineering team, you will serve as a strategic technical leader responsible for shaping the architecture and APIs of Shield AI’s full autonomy ecosystem, spanning developer tooling, autonomy algorithms, mission planning systems, simulation environments, and fielded autonomous platforms. You will work cross-functionally with each engineering team to ensure the Hivemind product family is built on a foundation of cohesive, scalable, and testable software systems that can support rapid iteration, integration, and deployment.

This role emphasizes technical rigor, engineering process excellence, and system-wide thinking. You’ll guide the evolution of key abstractions, interface contracts, and modularization patterns that enable independent team velocity while maintaining the integrity and safety of the broader system. In partnership with engineering and product leaders, you will help codify and refine our development processes, advocate for high-quality system design practices, and support the technical roadmap for both near-term deliverables and long-term autonomy goals.

The key to your success will be your ability to balance system flexibility with reliability, enabling Hivemind teams to deliver complex functionality with confidence. This includes influencing architectural trade-offs, promoting sound engineering practices (design reviews, diagrams, and RFCs), driving the adoption of automated testing strategies (including simulation-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop validation), and ensuring thoughtful integration across embedded software, autonomy algorithms, and user-facing systems.

You’ll be a champion of architectural consistency and software quality across Hivemind, helping teams navigate complexity, manage technical debt, and make informed decisions about system evolution. This role is suited for a systems thinker with a strong software development background, deep respect for cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a passion for advancing the state of autonomy through principled engineering.

As an Architect on the Hivemind product engineering team, you will serve as a strategic technical leader responsible for shaping the architecture and APIs of Shield AI’s full autonomy ecosystem, spanning developer tooling, autonomy algorithms, mission planning systems, simulation environments, and fielded autonomous platforms. You will work cross-functionally with each engineering team to ensure the Hivemind product family is built on a foundation of cohesive, scalable, and testable software systems that can support rapid iteration, integration, and deployment.

This role emphasizes technical rigor, engineering process excellence, and system-wide thinking. You’ll guide the evolution of key abstractions, interface contracts, and modularization patterns that enable independent team velocity while maintaining the integrity and safety of the broader system. In partnership with engineering and product leaders, you will help codify and refine our development processes, advocate for high-quality system design practices, and support the technical roadmap for both near-term deliverables and long-term autonomy goals.

The key to your success will be your ability to balance system flexibility with reliability, enabling Hivemind teams to deliver complex functionality with confidence. This includes influencing architectural trade-offs, promoting sound engineering practices (design reviews, diagrams, and RFCs), driving the adoption of automated testing strategies (including simulation-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop validation), and ensuring thoughtful integration across embedded software, autonomy algorithms, and user-facing systems.

You’ll be a champion of architectural consistency and software quality across Hivemind, helping teams navigate complexity, manage technical debt, and make informed decisions about system evolution. This role is suited for a systems thinker with a strong software development background, deep respect for cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a passion for advancing the state of autonomy through principled engineering.

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.