artificialintelligencejobs.coPost a job

Principal Engineer, Software Architect (R4562)

Shield AI logo Shield AI · Dallas, Texas

No salary listed. Estimated from 1122 salary-disclosed Engineering roles on this board: $201K–$307K (interquartile range; estimate, not the employer's figure).

Apply at Shield AI Find your warm intro on LinkedIn

About the role

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 .

Lead the software architecture for Shield AI’s XBAT program across Mission, Vehicle, and Autonomy software domains. Build a safe, secure, and scalable architecture that enables high‑assurance, cyber‑relevant software development for an advanced airborne system and its ground stations, reporting to the XBAT Software Lead.

More like this

More Engineering roles · All Shield AI jobs

Our read on this one

Your match

Set your preferences on the board (the ✨ Get matched bar) and this shows your personal fit score for every role.

Momentumindex / 100

how it's scored

Capital freshness0/35

Hiring velocity30/30

Comp transparency0/20

Workplace rating7/15

Recomputed daily from public data: capital freshness (0-35) + hiring velocity (0-30) + pay transparency (0-20) + employer rating (0-15; unrated scores the neutral 7), minus up to 10 for documented headwinds (lawsuits, layoffs, leadership churn). Transparent formula, not investment or career advice.

Shield AI in the news

Shield AI and GE Aerospace light off X-BAT engine, completing thrust vectoring nozzle integration and clearing path to vertical flight Shield AI · 2026-07-20

Shield AI, GE Complete Critical X-BAT Engine Integration Test The Defense Post · 2026-07-22

FIA 2026: Vectored thrust boosts Shield AI X-BAT’s VTOL capability Shephard Media · 2026-07-22

Auto-pulled from Google News, refreshed daily; headlines belong to their publishers

What this job is probably like day to day

Shipping most of the day: code review, standups and deep-work blocks. At AI companies expect fast-moving codebases, evals before releases, and on-call at infra-heavy shops. Defense-tech context: clearances and export controls shape who can do what; shipping cadence is mission-driven, not sprint-driven.

Indicative read from role type + company stage, not insider info

About Shield AI

Backed by: a16z, Advent International, Point72

Full profile on the Shield AI page

Culture read

Hiring hard (419 open roles): expect onboarding chaos and fast promotion surface.

Indicative read from public signals, not insider info

How to actually get hired here

Referrals massively outperform cold applications: check who you know at Shield AI with the warm-intro button before applying.

Walk in current: reference what is actually happening at Shield AI (e.g. "Shield AI and GE Aerospace light off X-BAT engine, completing thrust vectoring n") in your note or interview; most applicants will not have.

Shield AI is backed by a16z, Advent International; portfolio-network intros (their talent teams) are a real side door.

Shield AI is hiring at volume (419 open roles): loops move faster and internal mobility after joining is real.

Built from our researched data on Shield AI, not generic advice